Feature

Baby Invasion!

By Ann Marie Quill

Ella Friedman models a Baby Nation T-shirt.

You may have noticed some toddlers sporting T's with sassy sayings lately - they're members of a new nation of babies. "Me for president 2056," "Ain't nothing rotten 'bout being spoiled" and "Boxers nor briefs" are just some of the statements these tiny hipsters are making, thanks to a clothing line created by Jeremy Estroff and Brandon Friedman.

A sampling of Baby Nation T-shirt designs:

"Voted...biggest flirt"

"If at first you don't succeed, cry cry again"

"Have your people talk to my people"

"Uh-oh"

Baby Nation was born from the frustration the two friends, who work together at an Atlanta advertising agency, and their wives were feeling about their young daughters' clothing options

"We realized there was not too much out there that was fun and cool and creative," Estroff says. "So we put our heads together and thought, �eWe can do this.' "

With Estroff being a graphic designer and Friedman a writer, designing T's with cool graphics and clever sayings comes naturally, and the two have successfully marketed their product. Six local boutiques - Chickweeds, Fragile, Hoopla, MadBug, Peridot and Precious Cargo - are carrying the Baby Nation line. The duo credit their wives, Joanna Estroff and Sara Friedman, with locating and presenting their products to the proper boutiques.

"We let our wives go to the streets with the shirts," Estroff says. "We came out with 15 shirts in October. If someone had told me then that six boutiques would pick them up, I wouldn't have believed it." Friedman added, "A lot of it is just finding out which store is the right fit. We're trying to be selective, too." The partners are working on the fall collection now and hope to go to New York this year for a children's show to be picked up by more boutiques. But right now, Friedman explains, they have about as much as they can handle and are willing to take things one step at a time and be patient with the company's growth. "We are rookies," he says. "We don't want to just jump right out of the gate."

A successful advertising strategy the company has discovered is having their own daughters, who can be seen wearing the shirts on the Baby Nation Web site, don the shirts around town.

"It's a natural, effective way of advertising," Estroff says, when people see the babies wearing the shirts and ask where they can find them. "It's nice to get the feedback, too."

Baby Nation's fall line will include more outfits. "We're learning from the stores that if people just buy a T-shirt as a gift, they feel obligated to get something else."

So don't expect the babies with attitude to retreat indoors in the cooler months; they'll still have plenty to say.

For more information about Baby Nation, visit www.shopbabynation.com, or call (404) 433-0356.