What Makes Australian Designers so Good?

We’ve had a very busy past couple of months here at Mini Treasure Kids visiting the Bubble trade show in London then Pitti Bimbo in Florence and back to Melbourne where we attended Kids in Style in early August.

We were flattered that LMNOP blog described us as “local heroes” and “the toast of the town” at the Europe tradeshows.

The latest edition of Studio Bambini features an article on Pitti Bimbo, the “world’s largest and most prestigious children’s fashion trade show.” Our very own Conie Silvestro is quoted as saying “Pitti is the fair to be at to capture a worldwide audience. Pitti Bimbo is the pinnacle of trade shows – the attendance is high and the products are of exceptional quality."

So we were wondering, what makes Australian Designers So Good?

When you hear the word “designer” you will probably immediately think of clothing that comes from Paris or Italy, countries that have a rich history with fashion and culture.

But we consider Australian Designers to be up there with some of the best in the world, a breath of fresh air with unique designs, ideas and creativity.

Australia certainly has a unique landscape and climate and our culture and history certainly make us a distinctive country in many ways. Australian designed clothing is undoubtedly beautiful and inspiring with a modern edge while still remaining timeless.

“There is a place for (Australian fashion) as we don’t look the same as all the labels in Europe,” says Conie.

Mini Treasure Kids is proudly 100% Australian (and proud Melbournites) – stay tuned as we reveal our Summer Range in the upcoming weeks.

Something for that special occasion...

Are getting married and need a really stylish outfit for your flower girl, page boy, son or daughter to wear? Perhaps you have been invited to a wedding and after asking yourself “what will I wear?” the next question is “what will the kids wear?” Or maybe you have another very special occasion that requires a truly gorgeous little outfit for your little one.

If you have ever had to look for something like this, you might have found it very difficult to find an outfit for your little boy or girl that was not only elegant but also chic and stylish. An outfit that was something extra special and a little bit different from the traditional wedding outfits worn by children.

This is one of the reasons Mini Treasure Kids first started – we found it hard to special occasion wear for our little ones and found that there was a lack of choice on the market. If you want something truly special you can’t go past Mini Treasure Kids. Both the girls and boys ranges have some stunning items perfect for a wedding.

With our gorgeous fabrics sourced from around the world and intricate attention to detail you will love our beautiful girl’s dresses and magnificent boy’s outfits and will certainly find something special for a wedding or any other special occasion.

Visit http://www.mtkboutique.com/ to view our range or drop into one of our stockists.

"Share the MTK Love" Competition

Would you like to win this...

or this..

or maybe this...

or this..

Or, in fact anything from http://www.mtkboutique.com/ ?

Announcing our "Share the MTK Love" Competition...  here is how to enter:

What you need to do is simply tell your friends about us! You can do this by:

• Sharing on your Facebook page
• Emailing your friends
• Blogging about us
• Sharing on a forum
• - or any other way you can think of!

Then post on our Facebook page who and how you have "shared the MTK love". The person with the most referrals and who shared the most about us will win a free item of clothing of their choice from www.mtkboutique.com.

The winner will be announced here on the 15th July 2011.

GOOD LUCK!

Thiss competition is open to Australian residents only.

Sneak Peak - 2012 Winter Collection

Tuesday 7th June we gathered at The Abbotsford Convent for our Winter 2012 photo shoot. Here are a few sneak peak shots of our collection and our wonderful models.

Featured in this photo shoot are the winners of the Mini Treasure Kids Search for a Model Competition: Dylan, Rihanna and Mahalia who did such a fantastic job - thank you!!

We loved the location, The Abbotsford Convent was a stunning setting for our shoot. Situated within a bend of the Yarra River, it is only 4 kms from the Melbourne CBD and covers 5.6 hectares. There are ten buildings scattered around with some gorgeous gardens and grounds surrounding them.

Nowadays the Covent is used as a place for the Community with a variety of uses - there is a restaurant, a bakery, workshops and classes, an art studio and venues for hire and now of course, the location of the 2012 Winter Mini Treasure Kids photoshoot!

Pitti Immagine Bimbo Tradeshow in Florence

June is a very busy month for Mini Treasure Kids.

Next Tuesday, 7th June, is the photo shoot for our Winter 2012 collection featuring the three gorgeous models who won our Search for a Model competition Dylan, Rihanna and Mahalia.

After that we are attending the Bubble London Tradeshow on the 19th and 20th June.

Then is the very prestigious Pitti Immagine Bimbo Tradeshow in Florence from 23rd to 25th June.

Later next week Conie is heading over to Italy (with husband & four kids in tow) to attend the show in Florence.

According to the website, "539 collections presented, of which 208 from abroad, just under 7,000 buyers out of a total of over 11,000 visitors at the last summer edition: these figures confirm Pitti Bimbo’s role as the only trade fair in the world that presents a complete overview of children’s fashions, combining it with an extraordinary platform for presenting new kids’ fashion and lifestyle trends."

There are some top Italian and international buyers attending, such as: Harrods and Selfridges (UK), Le Bon Marche and Galeries Lafayette (France) Barney's, Begdorf Goodman, Saks and Neiman Marcus from the USA as well as other top department stores and boutiques from Japan, Russia, Emirates, Turkey, Hong Kong and even Brazil!

Along with Mini Treasure Kids there are some other Australian labels going such as our friends from Old Soles and Minimink.

This is the first time Mini Treasure Kids has hit Italian shores and we can't wait to show the world our gorgeous Australian label!

Travelling with your Mini Treasures

A certain person here from Mini Treasure Kids is about to travel from Melbourne to Rome via Hong Kong with 4 kids under 4 years of age including twin 9 month olds. This article is for Conie and anyone else who needs some tips on travelling with kids:

Choose books and toys wisely. Try wrapping a couple of little “plane” presents pass-the-parcel style to add to the excitement and get them in a good mood. Keep a couple of toys aside to be unveiled at that magical moment when you most need them.

Teach your kids things such as: how to do up buttons, zippers, shoelaces, tell the time and how to write their name, even reading the flight safety instructions is educational and entertaining and will keep them occupied for a while.

Using the travel blanket tucked over the top of the seats can create a nice little tent which kids will love and may even encourage them to fall asleep even if the cabin lights are on!

Take a portable DVD player. Put some kid’s music, songs and stories on your iPod for them to listen to. The Leapfrog Leapster Game is brilliant; it doesn’t take up much room but with a few cartridges will keep the kids entertained for hours.

Pack two complete changes of clothes for the kids and one for Mum and Dad. There is nothing worse than sitting in wet clothing for a 24 hour flight.

Pack the good old baby wipes! Even if your kids are too old, baby wipes are great for not only cleaning hands and faces, but wiping down toilet seats, tables and trays etc. And they are great for refreshing during a hot day or a long flight.

Don’t forget restrictions on baby formula, milk, juice and other liquids you can read about here. This website also has some information on security screening and x-ray at the airport with kids and babies.

Finally, expect that there will be some problems but if you have an easy-going attitude and “go with the flow” the kids won’t sense your stress and everyone will deal with any hiccups much better.

For more reading have a look at Delicious Baby, a brilliant blog for parents who want to travel with their children.

There is also a great article on Kidspot - Top Tips for Travelling with Children.

Conie will be travelling with her family to Italy for the Pitti Immagine Bimbo children’s trade fair held at the end of June. More on that to come in our next post!

What are your tips on travelling with children? Leave a comment below, we would love to hear from you!

Random Acts of Kindness

We have a very special announcement to make here at Mini Treasure Kids.

You have probably heard of the phrase “Random Acts of Kindness” (or RAK) – probably in Australia most well-known for the Channel 9 TV show.

However, you may not know there is a World Kindness Movement which brings together various Random Acts of Kindness movements around the world with member countries celebrating World Kindness Day on November 13^th every year.

Around the world there are various organisations around the world committed to spreading kindness, such as the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation in the USA, The Kindness Offensive, a group based in the UK who practise large scale acts of kindness, such as cooking 500,000 pancakes on Pancake Day in 2009.

In Australia there is The Australian Kindness Movement which gathers stories about acts of kindness and is also a resource and information website.

We at Mini Treasure Kids really love this idea. We have decided to conduct our own little random acts of kindness so from time to time you will see a story here on the blog, a mention on Facebook, a giveaway or anything else ‘random and kind’ for our lovely followers.

We invite you to follow this blog to find out more – http://www.minitreasurekids.blogspot.com/

Our very first random act of kindness was inspired by the response to our recent MTK Love It! Competition. We had a big influx of entries and a lot of lovely comments about our clothing. We would like to invite anyone who entered to email us directly for a super special surprise – info@minitreasurekids.com.

Stay tuned, we look forward to bring you more random acts of kindness!