JOSIE BRAGG, DESIGNER AT LITTLE GREEN RADICALS – an organic children’s clothing brand, which began life in 2005 and quickly became part of a select group of brands to be the first in the UK to receive FAIRTRADE certification for cotton. Known for their bold prints, whimsical designs and great quality, Josie tells us a little more about her design background and the brand.
Meet Josie…
How long have you been with the team at Little Green Radicals?
I have worked at LGR for just under 5 years.
Can you tell us a little about your background in design and fashion?
I initially trained in graphic design, learning about print graphics, web design and typography. I then moved into developing fabric prints and finally went into the colourful world of children’s fashion.
Who were your design and fashion inspirations growing up, and have they changed at all as your career has developed?
I have always been interested in clean, contemporary designs and imagery which becomes even more important when working with children’s clothes. There are so many over complicated designs for children on the market which seem to focus on gender stereotypes and I have always been keen to do something different.
Why work in children’s fashion?
Creating children’s clothing is incredibly rewarding because you can really tell a story with each piece. Colour is particularity important for kids and one of the best parts of my job is when we start developing the colour palette for the new season. A particular quirk of children’s fashion is also the speed at which kids grow, so its a great challenge to find new ways each season to make the clothing last as long as possible.
Can you tell us a little about the process behind choosing the designs for each season and where your influences come from?
Inspiration comes from everywhere but we always try and take a lot from nature because its such a rich resource. In terms of choosing designs we tend to make sure that each piece is in keeping with the ideals that Little Green Radicals holds dear, they must be hardwearing, long lasting and have a sense of colour and fun.
How would you describe the Little Green Radicals SS15 range?
Our spring summer 15 range is based on the poetry of Edward Lear who wrote amongst others The Owl and the Pussycat, so we have lots of his characters in the collection. Spring Summer 15 has a bright colour palette with lots of balloons, nostalgic aline shape dresses and beautiful organic fabrics.
Which are your favourite pieces from the current range?
This changes all the time – but my favourite piece from our summer collection currently is our story time dungarees (pictured above) made from organic slub jersey. I love the softness of slub jersey for summer and each leg of the dungaree tells a little story.
Why would you say it is important to buy organic cotton when choosing clothing for children?
Organic cotton has so many benefits but as way of producing cotton it provides its workers with a safe and sustainable method of farming. Non organic cotton goes through many chemically intensive processes which can still be found in the cotton fibre. So particularly for little ones who are prone to eczema, organic cotton is great.
Describe a typical day at work for you?
The great thing about producing a new collection each season is that each day is different. We are usually working on 3 collections at one time and I work closely with our producer manager Bonnie to make sure each range is running smoothly. My day is usually made up with liaising with our producers and monitoring each stage of the production process, checking any new samples and developing new ranges. This can be anything from creating our distinctive repeat prints, checking embroidery’s or organising a fit session with some Little Green Radicals fans to make sure each piece is perfect.
And lastly, what can we expect from Little Green Radicals over the course of the next few seasons? Are there any exciting projects on the horizon that you can tell us about?
We are just finishing developing our next spring summer 16 range based on The Secret Garden, so you can expect lots of woodland prints, flower appliqués and brightly coloured birds but we are also very excited to be developing a new rainwear collection using recycled polyester fabric on the outside and organic cotton on the inside which we hope to launch some time this year.
Thank you so much to Josie for giving us some insight into what it’s like to be a children’s clothing designer. The new Little Green Radicals range for next Summer sounds gorgeous, The Secret Garden is a wonderful theme. And make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the new rainwear collection later this year.
Go and check out the gorgeous range now…
