At Marley & Moose, we understand the hustle and the incredible sense of community that comes from being a woman-owned business. We put that passion and commitment into action with brands and products that we have in our own home. While we stock a variety of heirloom-quality, eco-friendly clothing and toy brands that adhere to our early childhood development philosophies, we prioritize and strive to empower fellow woman-owned companies both in what we stock and in our community beyond the store. Currently, 70% of our brands are woman-owned and we are continually working to identify and partner with more women-owned companies. Below are just a few of our favorite woman-owned children’s brands doing amazing work.
Kind Culture Co.
After a photo of an adorable and hilarious toddler moment went viral, Victoria from Kind Culture Co. found herself immersed in a mainstream media blitz. What followed was an unfortunate mean spirited and unwarranted parent shaming that we’ve all experienced on some level. Convinced that not all humans are born mean, she and her business partner Jackie decided to do something to spread kindness. The Kind Culture Company mission was born: To inspire and empower children to create a kinder world.
Each doll from the Doll Kind collection comes along with a “kindness kit”. Each kit includes 10 tokens with special phrases on them to show gratitude, love, kindness, hope, and friendship. These tokens are meant for children to give out as acts of kindness. Also in the kit is a list of acts of kindness to inspire your child to get started sharing and giving their tokens. The doll has a secret pocket on the back to store a token.
If you weren’t already swooning over these dolls and the company, Kind Culture Co donates a portion of proceeds to further childhood education.
Kiko+ & gg*
kiko+ & gg* is a modern-minimalist, boutique toy brand from Osaka, Japan. Over 10 years ago, when plastic toys ruled the toy world – two female toy designers Kaz* and Novi* had a better idea: Toys could be beautifully-designed, durable, and fun for kids at the same time!
The kiko+ collection is colorful and quirky, often with a ‘surprise function’ not usually found in traditional wooden toys. Also known for its cooler, wooden re-makes of old-school plastic toys.
The gg* collection features soft, muted colors with a beeswax finish. These are classic toys with an educational spin.
Watching your littles play with updated versions of your favorite childhood toys is just pure fun and all of the good feels.
Urban Baby Co.
Starting with just a few stencils, t-shirts, and fabric paint in 2012, Urban Baby Co. has since grown into a thriving baby brand that delivers both consciously created and curated one-of-a-kind goods, sourced domestically and internationally, to hip humans all around the world.
Urban baby creates sustainable baby apparel that is inspired by nature, big cities, and cute prints that bring joy.
At Marley & Moose, we initially fell in love with the adorable prints and designs and were blown away by the quality of their organic cotton fabrics. Wash after wash they still look amazing and are incredibly soft on our tiny ones. And another big win, they are here local in Colorado. While we do stock national and international brands when the aesthetic and mission align with ours, we always prefer reducing our carbon footprint by buying and supplying locally.
As with a lot of our brands, we also love Urban Baby because they give back to Brittany’s Baskets of Hope (no relation).
We do have a relation to the adorable baby girl in the Urban Baby “hello world” gown above. Oh, my heart!
Mama Made Minis
We can’t stock them all! As much as we would love to carry these handmade, heirloom-quality crochet goodies, when you’re not cutting corners on true handmade craftmanship sometimes wholesale to a store like Marley & Moose just does not make sense. So while we cannot create a partnership with this brand we love, we build community with them and we love, love all of their products and a mama self-made success story.
This woman-owned business is another Colorado local brand with responsibly sourced materials that you can feel great about supporting. Who wouldn’t love to wrap their baby in a velvety crocheted rainbow or snuggle up with one of their cute dinosaurs or unicorns? Know a thing or two about crocheting? Demand has been so incredible for this mama’s work that she started selling patterns to all products in the store so you can try your hand at home!
Eco-Kids
This woman-owned business lives by the mantra — creative play the natural way. Eco-Kids is another made-in-the-USA, momma-owned business that evolved from trying to do better for her own children. Eco-Kids now adheres to the following mission. We love it so much we’d love to write a post about each point! And I not so secretly want to be her best friend. I’ll share when my fan-girl dreams come true and we have a cup of coffee together.
- Simplify children’s toys.
- Remove gender/race biases from children’s products.
- Create time and space for a child’s inner journey.
- Emphasize the joy of discovery, imagination, creation and learning.
- Engage parents and caregivers in their children’s playtime.
- Reduce screen time.
- Reduce/eliminate unsustainable ingredients, packaging and practices.
- Reduce plastic use.
O.B. Designs
O.B. Designs was founded in 2008 by Kate Nicolson after the birth of her first daughter. Now an international brand, O.B. is committed to being an ecologically and socially responsible company. Materials are sourced from SEDEX suppliers, an organization dedicated to improving the lives and working conditions of people working the supply chain. Products are ethically manufactured in fair working conditions and packaged using recycled and recyclable materials. All products are tested independently and meet international safety standards. In addition, O.B. sponsors several different children’s charities by either direct funding or donating product.
Small Businesses Owned by Women
Above are just some woman-owned small businesses that produce beautiful, heirloom-quality toys that adhere to our child development philosophies and values. We prefer the right balance of hand-made, small-batch, minority-owned, eco-friendly, and open-ended inspired toys. It’s impossible to check every box so we do have a mix. We are always looking to improve, however, especially in our effort to support and empower minority-owned businesses. If you are or know of and love a BIPOC owned business, AAPI owned business, or LGBTQIA+ owned small business that you think might be a good fit for our store, let us know at hello [at] marleyandmoose.com! In the meantime please take a look at the rest of our Woman-Owned suppliers.
Mike Baron
