Brand recognition is so important, especially in the highly saturated kids’ fashion and lifestyle market. Being renowned for something like exceptional prints can make all the difference in a brand’s success. A prime example of this is Pink Chicken, a brand based in New York City that has built its universe around exceptional prints.

To learn more about this playful fashion and lifestyle brand, we interviewed the founder Stacey herself. Join us as we learn the story of how Pink Chicken started, how they’ve grown, and where this delightful brand is headed.

Stacey, Founder of Pink Chicken

After the birth of her second daughter, Stacey decided to take a break from the corporate world she had been working in. She had always been passionate about mixing and matching colors and prints, so she began creating dresses for her daughters using vintage fabrics she had collected. When people on the street started asking her where she got these beautiful dresses, Stacey thought to herself that maybe this could be something more. From there, she started reaching out to her network, specifically Scoop, who bought her dresses on the spot. And thus the children’s and lifestyle brand Pink Chicken was born!

Their tagline – “Original patterns. Thoughtful Craftsmanship. Timeless joy.” – has been at the heart of the brand since the beginning. Stacey launched it with a very focused offering that had just three dresses in three sizes. As the business continued to grow alongside Stacey’s own children, the size range continued to evolve as well. These expansions have been largely driven by customer demand. Pink Chicken’s retailers had been asking for boys’ products, so they added more styles to their collections. Moms began asking for pieces in their own sizes, especially as the rise of “mommy and me” dressing gained momentum, so again the brand expanded. Today, Pink Chicken covers baby, girls, boys, and women’s collections. Within these categories they offer dresses, separates, swimwear, and outerwear. Each step of the brand’s growth has been rooted in listening closely to their community and delivering what they’ve been asking for.

Pink Chicken is known for their exceptional prints and unique use of color. Each season, their design team starts the new collection by developing their prints. Then they build out the color palette. They draw inspiration from a mix of vintage references, what’s happening in the current season, and what their customers are loving. Pink Chicken prints are designed in-house, but they also enjoy collaborating with one or two artists each season to bring a fresh perspective to their collections.

Pink Chicken listens closely to their community. Their designs are meant to bring sunshine, confidence, and happiness to the littles and families that wear their clothing. To further adapt to their clients’ needs, they’ve created Coop Kids to offer 100% organic Pima Cotton essentials for everyday. This natural extension of the Pink Chicken offer provides soft, versatile basics made to be mixed and matched, or worn with customer’s favorite Pink Chicken pieces. Coop Kids rounds out the brand’s offering, while staying true to their commitments to quality, comfort, and thoughtful design. Coop Kids is also where they introduce more boys and unisex pieces.

In addition to Coop Kids, Pink Chicken has recently launched a monogram shop on their website, giving customers the ability to personalize their Pink Chicken pieces. It required significant integration between their website and warehouse operations to launch this service, but it was something that has always been important to the brand. They look forward to further expanding the styles available for monogramming and the customization options themselves, but they’re taking their time to implement these new options. For Pink Chicken, it’s important to move at the right pace to insure quality and value always come first.

Pink Chicken also has their own retail locations across the United States. These stores have been a natural way for them to deepen loyalty and give families a physical destination to explore the brand. All of their stores are warm, playful, and community driven. When deciding where to open new retail locations, they consider engagement signals across e-commerce and wholesale. They offer in real life experiences and personal connection for their customers. Their stores are true community hubs, and they’re excited to learn and grow in new communities such as The Woodlands outside of Houston, Texas, where they’ve recently opened a new location.

Giving back has been another core value for Pink Chicken since the beginning. As a brand rooted in family and community, they firmly believe in uplifting women, children, and families. They have longstanding partnerships with Baby2Baby and Goodplus. Through these partnerships, Pink Chicken donates clothing and supports families during back to school and the holidays. They also just launched a Mother’s Day capsule collection with Every Mother Counts. 20% of sales will go to the organization who supports and advocates for maternal healthcare and safe childbirth.

Collaborations have been another meaningful way for Pink Chicken to expand their joyful, print-driven universe. Working with brands that share their values, they approach each collab with a focus on authenticity. Their dedication to thoughtful designs help ensure the collection feels true to both brands. Recently they collaborated with West Elm Kids to bring their signature prints into the home. This allowed families to experience Pink Chicken in an entirely new way. Stacey shared more about how Pink Chicken approaches collaborations here as part of our New York Panel last winter.

As for Pink Chicken’s connection to Playtime, the New York event is an important touchpoint for the brand. It allows them to nurture relationships with existing retail partners while introducing the brand to new boutiques that share their love for joyful, timeless designs. It also allows them to get in-person feedback on their upcoming collections, which they highly value.

Thank you to Stacey and her team for sharing the backstory on this beautiful, print-driven brand. Buyers can look forward to discovering new collections from Pink Chicken and Coop Kids this summer at Playtime New York! Set your alarms for Thursday, April 23 when you’ll be able to get your pass.

If you’d like to dive deeper into other brands’ universes, take a look at past success stories here.

All images courtesy of Pink Chicken