Babu is the UK’s first rental subscription service focusing exclusively on designer kids’ fashion, providing monthly capsule collections of carefully curated luxury pieces that grow with a child. CWB learns more.
In 2021, Alice Horlick, Bella Nesselrode and Georgia Lombard were inspired to establish Babu – a rental subscription service dedicated to designer baby and kids’ fashion − after discovering first-hand how quickly their children and friends’ children grew out of their clothes. “On average, children go through 748 pieces of clothing during their first four years of life,” explains Georgia Lombard, who has over a decade’s experience in events and communications and is mum to four-year-old Arlo. “We realised just how much this clothing journey could be improved and streamlined by harnessing the power of the circular fashion movement.”
The Babu journey begins with customers registering an account and creating a bespoke subscription for their child. They will be asked to fill in their child’s birthday and confirm if they are big or small for their age, which enables Babu to automatically increase sizing as the child grows. Customers can then relax and look forward to discovering their first delivery. Mini collections comprise 10-15 curated luxury pieces made up of current and past season items from Babu’s exclusive roster of brand partners. Presented in a stylish Babu box that can be used throughout the month, each capsule includes approximately £1,500 worth of clothes; a saving of circa 77% through renting compared to buying.
After the capsule collection has been enjoyed for four weeks, it is replaced with a brand-new edit.
At this point, Babu sends subscribers a reminder along with when to book their DHL home collection or take their box to a convenient drop off point; DHL deliveries and returns are free with all subscriptions. To help distinguish pieces, all items come with a Babu label sewn in to make it easy to remember what to return. The customer’s reminder email will also contain a visual checklist to help save time. Finally, a return mailing bag with a shipping label attached is included with each delivery, so no printing is required.
Once the shipment is on its way back with DHL, Babu will automatically send out the next edit, so the customer receives a unique set of garments each month. Subscriptions cost £60 per week − which amounts to less than £0.75 per garment per day − and these can be paused or ended at any time thanks to Babu’s weekly billing cycles.
Collections comprise a mix of pieces for boys and girls aged 0-4 years across daywear, occasionwear and outerwear. Items include T-shirts; collared shirts; blouses; trousers; skirts; dresses; sweaters; cardigans; jackets, and coats. Offering an exclusive mix of luxury and contemporary brands aligned with its quality and sustainability values, Babu is launching in official partnership with Balmain; Bimbaló; Bonton; BOY London; Caramel; Elie Saab; Emilio Pucci; Foque; Il Gufo; Molo; Patachou; RaspberryPlum; Roberto Cavalli; Simonetta; Sonia Rykiel; Stella McCartney Kids, and Tartine et Chocolat.
To curate its monthly capsule collections, Babu employs well-known stylists and mum influencers.
Babu is delighted to be collaborating across all capsules with influencer Laura Wills (the Fashion Bug Blog), fashion maven Rosanna Falconer, and stylists Gayle Rinkoff and Charlotte Kewley, amongst others. Using their experience, these stylish mums select fashionable pieces to achieve a mix of style and practicality, so that each collection offers a valuable solution to Babu customers and their children. In time, Babu is keen to enhance its capsules further, including a holiday edit where subscribers can notify if they are going to the beach or on a ski trip to receive swimming trunks or snowsuits on demand.
The aim is that each garment can be rented an average of 12 times. However, once garments reach the end of their lives, Babu passes them on to its sustainable impact partner, which converts the pieces into renewable energy via an innovative process that generates no carbon footprint, and can even process traditionally hard-to-recycle materials. This clean energy can then be used in a variety of ways, including for power, heating, cooling, drying and food production.
“Rental offers a sustainable solution to fashion’s waste crisis and can reduce a family’s carbon footprint by up to 80%, which is why we are so excited to be working within the sharing economy,” emphasises co-founder Bella Nesselrode, formerly at Amazon and mum to two-year-old Alfie. “Babu ensures timeless designs that would usually end up in landfill will enjoy a full lifecycle and be disposed of responsibly, providing a mindful alternative to the traditional off-price and outlet models. We are delighted to be launching with so many of fashion’s forward-thinking big players on board.”
Sustainability extends to every part of the Babu concept to ensure the entire offering has as little environmental impact as possible.
The company’s HQ, for instance, is powered by 100% green energy. Plus, its wet-washing system is not only non-toxic (unlike dry-cleaning), but also uses biodegradable detergents, short wash cycles and low temperatures, resulting in minimal water and energy consumption and a better quality clean that is kinder to skin, clothes and the environment. Babu also works with a revolutionary sustainable impact partner to convert worn-out garments into renewable energy and has partnered with DHL, the pioneer of green logistics. Furthermore, the tissue paper and biodegradable stickers used to wrap its garments are fully recyclable, and the compostable mailers used to ship and return its capsule collections and boxes are carbon negative and will fully decompose in less than six months.
Convenience is one of the founding pillars of the Babu concept, and not just in terms of taking care of the washing so its customers don’t have to. Babu supplies donation bags with each delivery to save time-consuming trips to the charity shop and at the same time allow customers to benefit from its rewards system. Customers can fill donation bags with pre-loved items and send them back in the same mailing bag as their rented Babu items. Pieces in good condition from Babu’s brand partners will enter the Babu eco-system and customers will be credited with reward points to redeem against their subscription or to convert into a gift card. Anything Babu doesn’t keep will either be donated to children in London living under the poverty line through its partner charity Little Village or passed on to its sustainable impact partner for recycling if irreparably stained or damaged.
Babu aims to go further than any other rental platform by elevating its offering in every way.
With Babu, it is free, easy and rewarding to contribute to the circular fashion economy and donate to charity to help end child clothing poverty in the UK. As well as working on building new partnerships with more luxury brands, Babu’s longer-term focus is on supporting far-reaching change: creating awareness around sustainable options for excess stock in the fashion industry; helping end the toxic practice of dry-cleaning through advocating the use of wet cleaning, and helping put an end to child clothing poverty in the UK by providing a logistical solution to the charity sector and short-circuiting the process of donating pre-loved items.
“The fashion rental industry has exploded for adults, but nowhere is rental more relevant than in childrenswear as they grow so quickly,” concludes co-founder Alice Horlick, a London College of Fashion alumna and luxury handbag designer. “One of Babu’s mottos is ‘slow fashion, fast,’ because we believe in helping our customers enjoy a wider range of high-quality garments that are made to last.
“For less than the cost of buying one of our higher-priced items, our customers get to enjoy 10-15 impeccably presented pieces and change up their child’s wardrobe every month – with all garments sourced from exceptional luxury brands that are constantly striving to produce and operate in an eco-friendlier way.”
To visit the Babu website, please click here.
