News Edition
Fairtrade Felt Decorations
If you're one of our lovely local customers yon't won't have failed to notice our beautiful selection of festive Fairtrade felt decorations filling our Christmas windows and on display throughout the shop too.
With several hundred designs from hanging tree decorations and stockings to beautiful wreaths and garlands, there really is something for everyone, whether you're a staunch traditionalist or are on the lookout for something super quirky this Christmas.
The Polka Dot Club: Toys To Treasure Forever
Having long admired The Polka Dot Club and the glorious creations of Jen Murphy, it is with genuine joy that we welcome them to Junior Edition for the first time this season.
Now in their tenth year, The Polka Dot Club is something really quite special. Handmade with the utmost patience and care, these heritage toys are made to be loved and last forever. It's not hard to imagine them passed through the family for the next generation of children to enjoy, I know we shall cherish ours here forever!
Mimi Berry: Luxury Leather Accessories
We're really excited to further grow our adult offering this season with the addition of stunning luxury leather accessories from Mimi Berry .
A graduate of Fashion Design at Central St Martins Mimi Berry launched her handbag and accessories label upon completing her degree there. Her handmade designs were first sold through small boutiques and her own stall at London's famous Spitalfields Market and, whilst still firmly rooted in East London, Mimi's design studio and showroom are now based in Hackney with her luxury leather goods sold worldwide.
We are thrilled to join a small collective of UK stockists carrying this beautiful brand and have selected 8 beautiful pieces for our first season.
Petit Nord - A Uniqua Collaboration
New to Junior Edition this season is Petit Nord. We love beautifully crafted footwear in traditional styles and these gorgeous shoes and boots tick ALL the boxes.
Petit Nord first launched back on 1998 with a vision to create pretty, practical and durable footwear for children, crafted from only the very highest quality materials. Their strong Scandinavian roots can be keenly felt in each and every one of their designs - classic in style; muted, natural colours combine with splashes of bright in eye-catching and enduring designs.
Atelier Stella - Handmade in Brighton
One of very first things that drew me to Brighton (the sea aside) was how full of colour and creativity it is. It is such a vibrant city that has long attracted people working in the creative industries and we are lucky to be surrounded by some hugely talented people making the most beautiful things.
We have been fans of Stella Baggott, a Brighton based contemporary Ceramacist, for quite some time now. Her playful, handcrafted homewares are both beautifully quirky and completely irresistible and it is with great delight that we welcome Atelier Stella to Junior Edition, both in-store and online.
Dook - Small Batch Salt Soap
We have recently welcomed Dook Soaps to the Junior Edition family and, if you're a Brighton local, you might have already noticed them in-store.
Dook, which quite literally means 'to dip, plunge or bathe', are a small but perfectly formed company hailing from Edinburgh. They make the most extraordinary salt soap, in small batches, using only the finest organic ingredients and essential oils. Once you've used one believe me, there is no turning back!
Beautiful Bachaā
We are delighted to welcome beautiful French brand Bachaā to Junior Edition for the first time this season. Created in Paris in 2019 as an expression of a love for and connection to India, the name Bachaā is the phonetic transcription of the name that parents affectionately give to their children in Hindi (pronounced BaTchaA).
Bachaā create the prettiest clothing using artisanal processes such as block printing and hand embroidered detailing, for this reason no two garments are quite the same, every piece has its own slice of unique!
Slow Fashion
Junior Edition is now 5 years old and, with the passage of time, we have become increasingly aware of the impact the fashion industry is having on both the planet and the people producing the clothing itself. Whilst we have always tried to make carefully considered choices, how we might be able to positively influence the future based on our decision making now has become increasingly important.
In more recent times we have started to adapt our buying practices, shifting focus to support, and bring, small volume artisan produced brands to our customers who have expressed a growing desire for 'Slow Fashion'.
Working To Build A Sustainable Future
Wow, what a rollercoaster of a year 2020 turned out to be! It was a bumpy old year but we made it through, in large part thanks to the support of our wonderful customers, thank you.
Amongst all of the chaos it has been a year of reflection for us, as a business. We first came into this five whole years ago now and there's no denying that it has been TOUGH on occasion, juggling family with a business that grew to include a physical store as well as online threw up some of the most enormous challenges. We have worked really hard across the last couple of years to smooth out operational issues. Securing a warehouse and having a proper distribution hub was a game-changer for us and we are lucky enough to have a really strong and committed team who have been nothing short of amazing during this pandemic.
Misha and Puff
We love it when there is buzz around a brand or a collection and Misha & Puff has brought it in bucketloads these last couple of weeks! We had so many messages from customers dying to find out what we are stocking this season and the enthusiasm has been infectious, we were so excited to make the collection live yesterday at 3pm (or so, after a hugely stressful technical glitch!) and we couldn't be more grateful for your response, thank you for each and every one of your glorious orders which we are pleased to say will be winging their way to you early next week.
For anyone not familiar with Misha & Puff, the brand was founded by stylist Anna Wallack in 2011. From the humble beginnings of the very first season when handmade samples were personally carried shop-to-shop to generate interest, Misha & Puff has grown into the business we know and love today. Crucially there is one thing that hasn't changed in all that time and that is the ethos that is central the brand, to make things the best way possible, in the nicest way possible.
Each Misha & Puff piece is thoughtfully designed before being lovingly handcrafted in Peru by a team of dedicated and talented knitters, all of whom are very much part of the Misha & Puff family and many of which have been a part of the team since the very beginning. The knitters take great pride in their creations (rightfully so because they are things of beauty!) and on the hang tag of each garment you will find the name of the person responsible for creating that individual item.
Working with premium natural fibres, the merino in Misha and Puff designs is incredibly soft, hard-wearing and itch-free whilst the hand-dying process creates a truly unique and rich depth of colour. SS20 also features luxurious pima cotton yarn and the new collection is perfect for those sunny days ahead.
The ever-popular popcorn sweaters and cardigans return in the prettiest colour palate - vanilla, caramel, coral, dusty blue, sunflower and faded space dye. It's so hard to choose a favourite but I think it's the dusty blue that has my heart this season, available from 12 months all the way up to 8 years.
The must have item of the season has to be the skating pond skirt which completely sold out in all seven colour-ways in just a couple of hours! We can't wait for your images to start filtering though on instagram (please do tag us) as it was one of our personal favourites this season too. Pleated, and complete with attached bloomers this piece encapsulates Misha & Puff's signature style, combining beauty with practicality.
If knitwear isn't your thing there are some lovely pieces in organic pima cotton carrying the beautiful orchard design. We have the balloon romper, collar tee, cycling shorts and the scout dress (pictured) available in both mint and sunflower. The dress is just so easy to style with a built-in kerchief together with a ruffle hem. Just beautiful.
There are some beautiful t-strap shoes and sandals too, which are so versatile and would look fab with just about everything.
Misha and Puff clothes are built to last, and meant to be passed down. Shop the full collection online here and prepare to be wowed!
Stocking Fillers
As a child, the most exciting part of Christmas was to wake up (at about 3am naturally) and find a stocking filled with little gifts at the bottom of my bed, “He’s been!” I would squeal before spending the next hour excitedly picking through the treasures Santa had left for me.
Fast forward to 2019 and the traditional tangerine in the toe of the stocking remains. The stocking itself is a fair bit smaller in size but filled with beautiful gifts that will last for years rather than the day.
In truth I could fill a stocking ten times over just from the bits we sell in-store! The final contents are still a work a progress but some of my absolute must-haves follow…
French toymakers Vilac have been producing heirloom toys for well over 100 years and their kaleidoscopes, telescopes and twisting acrobats are the perfect shape and size for stockings, for the more musically inclined the sweet animal maracas would make a wonderful addition.
Sonny Angel dolls are a hit with children and adult collectors alike and in the 2019 limited edition Christmas series they are wearing the cutest woolly jumpers, hats and mittens! We also have the Flower, Vegetable, Fruit, Animal, Caribbean and New York series as well as the Birthday special edition. Blind boxed, you could receive any one of the designs in any given series or, if you’re really lucky, one of the special secret versions!
We have been collecting Schleich figures for several years now and they get played with most days. Founded in 1935 Schleich is one of the most prolific toy manufacturers in Germany, famed for their realistic animal figures. We have a huge collection of farm and wild animals at home already already so all eyes are on the hand painted fantasy Bayala collection this Christmas and their beautiful unicorns and Pegasi.
Meri Meri make the most adorable hair slides, necklaces, stickers and temporary tattoos, both Christmas themed and beyond. They make for a fun and really inexpensive stocking addition. 
A more recent tradition here is to include a Christmas tree decoration in the stocking, Felt So Good and Amica make the most gorgeous hanging decs, Fairtrade and handmade in Nepal. The Felt So Good Seagull is predictably one of the best-sellers at our Brighton store but it will be the Sloth in a Santa hat wending its way to our house this Christmas.
I do of course have to include the one thing stocking sized that found its way into the letter to Santa. Maileg is a Danish brand of charming characters with the most beautiful attention to detail. The pocket size mice are particularly beautiful and amongst our expansive collection of characters and accessories you can find some Christmas themed cuties including the Fairy Little Sister Mouse with detachable wings, available in assorted colours and priced at just £15.
All of these gorgeous items (and many more besides) can be found both online and in our Brighton store, nestled amongst lots of beautiful independent retailers in Brighton’s North Laine. Well worth a Christmas shopping visit if you can find the time.