Bandung’s clothing lines and ‘distros’ for children
Bandung is known among Indonesian youngsters as a city at the forefront of the country’s cutting edge clothing lines and distribution stores (distros).
Shopping for vintage records at Bandung's DU 68
The distro scene has evolved over time and now the city even has clothing lines and distros dedicated to match a variety of tastes.
Owlee Kids
Windy Wulandry, the owner of Bandung’s clothing line Flashy, has launched a new line named Owlee Kids, which is aimed at children up to nine-years-old.
After 15 years of developing Flashy, she felt that she had grown together with the brand. Windy is now a mother of three.
“We produce the same themes for mothers and kids,” she said of her new clothing line.
As with Flashy, Owlee Kids boasts trendy designs. But more importantly, it also uses comfortable material, which is an important consideration for parents.
The clothing line offers items such as t-shirts and jackets at prices from Rp 55,000 (US$5.68).
Owlee Kids clothing line
Flashy Store
Jl. Dipati Ukur No.1 Bandung
flashyshop.com
Baby Bones
The Baby Bones play shop on Jl. Trunojoyo is small, friendly and even equipped with free balloons to keep your young children happy during the visit. The vibe is in line with the clothing line’s fun, candy color designs.
Baby Bones offers t-shirts, bags, flip-flops and jackets, with t-shirt prices starting at Rp 70,000 ($7.23).
The clothing line engages with costumers by selecting ambassador through its social media channel. Parents can send pictures of their children wearing Baby Bones clothes and each month one child is selected to be featured in the clothing line’s little celebrity corner.
My personal favorites are the classic American high school design jacket and the cute flip-flops.
Baby Bones
Jl. Trunojoyo 23 Bandung
Kidz Project
Aimed at children aged two to nine-years-old, Kidz Project offers pants, shirts, t-shirts, and bags for its little customers, with t-shirt prices starting at Rp 55,000 ($5.67).
What I particularly like about this store is its in-house brand for those aged 9-14, called Mozo.
This is something that many parents will appreciate because it is a little difficult to find clothes for kids within that age group.
Kidz Project
Jl. Sultan Tirtayasa 24 Bandung
Oshborn Store
This store focuses on t-shirts and pants for children aged two to 10-years-old.
“We specialize in designing t-shirts that mix pictures with words using different fonts,” said Decky, a member of staff at the store.
He added that the showroom was a distro that sold other brands for children as well.
T-shirt prices start at Rp 70,000 ($7.23) and pants start at Rp 125,000.
I especially like the store’s superhero edition t-shirt for boys and its girly black t-shirt that says, “My mommy is my queen.”
Oshborn Store
Jl. Riau 114, Bandung
Jl. Sultan Agung No. 7 Bandung.
Parental Advisory
An edgy touch is what sets Parental Advisory apart from its competitors.
“We do clothing lines for kids starting from three-months-old to 12-years-old, but we do it differently. Other clothing lines go for cuteness while we are more daring,” said Dimas, who works at the clothing line.
Black colored t-shirts and baby rompers dominate their design, and now the clothing line also features t-shirts with logos of indie or hard core metal bands from Bandung and beyond.
“If parents like the band, they would want to match it with their children,” Dimas said, mentioning some indie hard core bands like Hell Beyond, Injected and Gugat.
This clothing line is not for all parents, but I found some of its designs to be delightfully in your face, smart and hilarious.
One of their black t-shirt designs says: “I have a penis,” or, “I’m following my mom’s tweets,” perhaps a warning for parents to care more for their kids instead of for their social media activity.
There’s even orange sleeveless t-shirts with “Tahanan LP Cipinang” printed on the back. The writing means that the wearer it is an inmate of Cipinang Penitentiary, Jakarta.
The Parental Advisory store on Jl. Baranang Siang is quite humble and blends in with its surroundings.
Dimas said that the owner, Phaerlymaviec Musadi, often taught local neighborhood children subjects like English, mathematics and even held free workshops for them on how to do screen printing on t-shirts, in the hope that they could make a living out of the skill.
“Phaerly wants to lower the crime rate in the area. We provide Wii [Nintendo] here for free but those kids need to do something first before they can play it, like writing an essay, or reading a book,” said Dimas.
Parental Advisory products start at Rp 75,000 ($7.75) for a t-shirt, baby rompers at Rp 80,000, and jackets at Rp 160,000.
If it’s too much hassle to come to their store, you can also find their products at Oshborn on Jl. Riau or simply make your purchases online on store’s Facebook page: Parentalbabymerch.
Parental Advisory
Jl. Baranang Siang 24 Bandung
Read also: The last of Bandung’s art deco architecture – Part 2
