Tails and Tales is a new luxury label and magical concept – a collection of exquisite clothing for children aged 2 to 9 years old designed to capture a child’s imagination and celebrate the magic of childhood.
From what we have seen so far, the collection is beautiful so time for an interview with one of the owners of Tails and Tales, meet Timothy Charles.
Tell us a little about your background?
I am from an international background with a wife from the Middle East and me being half British and half Belizean with a 2 year old daughter (possible the only British Omani Belizean Iraqi!). I have predominantly worked in and around retail and fashion but only recently plucked up the courage to use these varied experiences to launch the Tails and Tales brand.
How did you become to be a children’s fashion designer?
As a parent and with my background, I have always been looking at inspirational and exciting brands. Even at a young age, kids want to immerse themselves into fantastical stories and share the experience with their story book heroes. The market seemed to be dominated by either mini-fashion (adult inspired clothing but in kid’s sizes) or heavily branded and often lower quality material based clothing. The gap for merging story telling and clothing became a source of inspiration and drive for me starting Tails and Tales.
What inspires your work, and what do you want to inspire in others though your work?
I love seeing the development of children (whether my nephews or more recently my daughter) especially when their imagination drives their play. I want my clothing to be part of this childhood discovery and self-expression – a way for kids to immerse themselves into a magic character inspired world whilst parents are happy to have them wearing stylish and high quality clothing. Our focus has from the start been on maintaining high quality but with a design led and practical concept.
What is your favorite piece from the collection?
Our launch collection is inspired by Alice in Wonderland and whilst our signature piece is the Alice dress, my personal favourite is the Red Queen inspired range. The combination of the jacket, dress and skirt is a really striking and original piece which captures some of the craziness within the books but also captures the flexibility of our brand. Three pieces that when combined reflect a magical adventure in waiting but when separated are flexible individual items that can worn as everyday items of clothing.
Do you have children? How does that influence your work?
I have a 2 year daughter and she is a real inspiration for me. I remember when she tried on a sample of the Alice dress, she danced round our house calling herself Princess Alice and me “King Daddy”. Her creativity and self-expression as she grows and develops balances against my design of versatility, high quality and longevity.
What are the most rewarding and most challenging aspects of your job?
The most rewarding is seeing the excitement that children and parents alike have when they see our range. Parents especially re-discover their childhood memories of favourite characters and the kids seem immediately inspired by the hidden story inherent in our range.
The most challenging, is managing the logistics and business elements to find an accessible price range whilst maintaining a very high level of quality in design, material and manufacture. A stressful juggling act made worthwhile by the resultant feedback!
If one of our readers is only in your city, London, for 24 hours what one thing would you
recommend they do?
London is such an inspirational place, our last family outing was to the Tower of London where our daughter loved seeing the crown jewels and “the marching man who’s not allowed to wave”! The continual evolution of the city with its combination of history and modernity make it a great place to walk around and absorb the city or to see it through the different viewing options (river, Shard viewing level or the London Eye). As you can guess I love the city and its a real inspiration for me.
Website – shop.tailsandtales.co.uk
Facebook – fantasticfashionforkids
