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Letting Children be Children

CASE STUDY: THE DESIGN AND RETAIL OF FIRST AND TRAINER BRAS

Children develop at different ages and rates. In the UK, girls can now expect to reach puberty around their tenth birthday, and there are some who will need a first bra before then.

Shops selling first and trainer bras may locate these either in the childrenswear section or in the lingerie section, depending on factors such as shop size and layout and customer preference. First and trainer bras can be labelled in two ways — either according to age or using the chest and cup sizing used for adult bras.

The design of first and trainer bras is usually quite plain, for example bras are often white or in plain cotton fabrics, perhaps lightly decorated. First and trainer bras may well have lightly moulded foam cups. Newspaper coverage has sometimes described this as 'padding' but it is not designed to enhance the wearer's bust: customer feedback shows that young wearers feel more comfortable with a bra that offers support and modesty.

Source: Clothing retailers who contributed to our Call for Evidence

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The retailers of children's clothes we spoke to all have some form of checking process in place to 'edit out' suggestions of sexualisation from children's clothing. Some companies have written guidelines for buyers, others provide induction and training in company values. All the companies we spoke to depend, to a greater or lesser extent, on the fact that many of their designers, buyers and managers are themselves parents who bring their own 'family values' to bear in design and retailing judgements, and all claimed to pay relentless attention to the feedback they get from customers.

CASE STUDY: GEORGE DESIGN — PARROT T-SHIRT

"George at Asda created an original design for a girls t—shirt with a parrot theme.This initially featured a drawing of a parrot and the wording of the familiar phrase 'who's a pretty girl?' However, in the internal George process of reviewing designs it was decided that the wording could perhaps be misconstrued by some people. To ensure that the product was completely appropriate, the product was redesigned. The final product for customers features the drawing of a parrot but not the wording.This is example of how George uses its internal design and feedback process, from colleagues and customer focus groups, to refine products so that they are just right for the wearer."

Source: George at Asda

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