Diwali - The Festival of Lights

Diyas (lights) on Diwali

Diwali is almost here!  Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights and signifies a time of celebration of good over evil. Hindus light small clay lamps called diyas and keep them burning throughout the day and night.  The Times of India sums up Diwali in the modern sense as a "reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple joys of life".   Regardless of your personal interpretation of Diwali and whether you are Hindu or not, it is definitely a time to celebrate with friends and family and prepare for a new year filled with laughter and light.  We never got off from school, but it was always an occasion to buy new clothes and eat a lot of sweets!  In preparation for this festive time as well as the fast approaching holidays, please come visit the Diwali Gift Fair at The Roger Smith Hotel on Sunday, Oct 21st from 1-5pm to find fabulous and modern Indian-inspired gifts for your loved ones! 

International Day of the Girl!

Today, October 11, 2012, is the first United Nations International Day of the Girl!  The Day of the Girl was established to help advance the gender related goals of the UN Millenium Development project.  It is not just a day but a movement to:

" help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.”

At Ode we are always trying to work with groups that are committed to the advancement of girls and women in various parts of the world.  That is why we choose, for example, to have our alpaca sweaters for F/W 2012 to be made by AHA Bolivia rather than a large factory.  And why for S/S 2013 we are working with Indego Africa to make skirts from Dutch wax prints. 

Sadly, the first International Day of the Girl coincides with the heinous shooting of Malala Yousufzai by the Taliban in Pakistan.  Malala, a 14 year old activist was specifically targeted by the Taliban for her outspoken support of girls' education.  The tragedy does, however, serve as reminder of why we need an international movement that addresses girls' issues around the world - from education to body image to child marriages and systemic rape as tool of war. 

Malala is the most recent reminder to me of the pressing need for women and girls to stand up and be heard.  Recently I also watched the two part PBS documentary of Half the Sky which started as a book by New York Times writers Nicolas Kristof and Cheryl WuDunn and is now a worldwide movement!  The book is life-changing in the way it propels you to see the world and the place of the girls within it. 

To do our part in the launch of International Day of the Girl, we at Ode are teaming up with a orphange in India that houses abandoned and orphaned girls - Sheela Bal Bhavan.  For our upcoming annual pilgrimage to India we are going plannning on filling a few suitcases with things the girls need and things they may want - even things they may not know they want.  And instead of just buying all of the items, I am going to make my own mini-movement to bring awareness to the people around us.  I am partnering with my kids' classes and school so each child can bring something in for the girls.  And when we are there we will try to skype with the classes and take pictures with the girls to bring back.  My kids are young, 8 and 5, but the I am excited about the things they will learn from this.  I hope to establish a more long-term relationship with Sheela Bal Bhavan and will explore those opportunites when we visit.

Amisha, for her part to help launch International Day of the Girl, has been working on a promotional tote for 10x10, a social action campaign that has a single message: "Educating girls will change the world".

There are a number of links in this post that you can use to do your part to promote girls' issues around the world.  I know that reading about them can often make you think that you have no big ideas to help.  But as you can see from what Amisha and I are doing, you can contribute in your own small way and change can come from a million little actions! 

Hello from Bubble London!



We introduced the colorful world of Ode across the pond at Bubble London two weeks ago!  It is a pretty big show that takes place in the Business Design Centre in Islington - kind of the equivalent of the Javits Center here in NYC (but a bit smaller).  There were over 100 exhibitors showcasing some great European design in children's clothing, toys, books, and accesories.  One of my favorite things were these Muffin Pouffes by Matteo Bianchi that were in the plaza area of the show for people to take a break.


Bubble was our first show of the Autumn/Winter 2012 season, and we were excited to showcase our new dress collection as well as our capsule collection of alpaca sweaters.  Our textile journey took us to Bolivia for A/W 2012 where they have been working with  alpaca yarn for centuries.  All of the sweaters are hand-knit and oh so soft!

Amisha at Bubble

Alpaca Sweater Vest A/W 2012

The show was also a great place for us to see what else is happening in the market and to meet other designers.  There were some amazing brands at Bubble and we want to share some of them with you.

Jumina is an organic, fairtrade certified company from Norway.  Elisabeth Grønning Rognmo, the owner, lives in a small viallge in Norway with her family and decided to have her business be in line with her deep concern for the environment.  It's a truly stylish and wearable collection with dresses and separates that are modern but still young and fun.  And the stylized photographs on the website bring to life the landscape of Scandinavia!

Ella & Otto, a London based company, specializes in the most adorable furnishings, accessories and toys for young children and babies.  The patterns with clean lines and bright colors would make any nursery fun without sacrificing style.  It was started by Tania Urban whose background in graphic design is evident in her collections!  We loved her rattles which were stuffed and soft and eliminated the wince-inducing feeling that baby will hit herself on the head.

The ladies at Poppy have created a truly special brand.  They design and print their own fabrics locally in Lancaster and then create their special collections. The designs "feature the adventures of Poppy and her dog, Fred, which are depicted on the borders running around the hem of each dress."  And to top it off, each dress comes with a storybook so your little one can follow the characters.

Pom Pom makes high quality, stylish and comfortable shoes for babies and kids.  It is a Danish company, and it's collection of shoes and boots reflect the minimalist, functional aesthetic that we expect from Scandinavian design.  And yes,  if you haven't guessed, we at Ode love Scandinavian design.    

But as a truly international company, we don't limit ourselves to just one part of the world.  Hucklebones was one of our favorites of the show.  The collections are undeniably unique, uber-stylish and playful at the same time.  Check out their A/W 2011 collection that is currently on sale  - we know you will love it!  The fabrics are designed in-house so you won't find these prints and patterns anywhere else. 

Thinking back on the show it is not surprising that the brands we love emphasize uniqueness of prints, clean, modern style and high quality.  These three elements are a kind of mantra at Ode as we strive to bring your globetoddler phenomenal clothing that comes with a little bit of culture from far away lands! 

Preserving the Ancient Craft of Block Printing

It is not a coincidence that Amisha and I decided to launch Ode with an initial collection that included several hand block printed textiles.  In India the art of hand block printing has been going on since the third millenium B.C.  The process, which involves carving a wooden block (usually teak) with the intricate design or pattern which will form the textile; hand dipping that block in dye and literally stamping the pattern onto the cloth, has remained relatively unchanged in India for over 4,000 years!

During our trip to India, we decided to visit the Anokhi Museum of Hand Block Printing to see the process up close.  We were in central Jaipur and decided to hail a rikshaw to get us there not realizing that it was at least forty minutes away behind the Amber Fort.  If you have ever taken a ride in an Indian rikshaw or a tuc-tuc, as they are known in several East Asian countries, you can imagine our dismay at the long, bumpy ride.

Anokhi Museum of Hand Block Printing

The museum is housed in a 16th-century haveli or mansion which has been stunningly restored and received a UNESCO award for cultural conservation.  There are three floors where different traditions of hand block printing are explained and displayed. But it is the when you get to the roof that you can observe blocks being carved and fabrics being printed.

Amisha and I were invited to sit down and watch a gentleman painstakingly carve a block design using nothing but a small chisel and what looked like a thick ruler.  He told us he had learned the craft from his father who had learned it from his father and so on.  There isn's a trade school one can go to learn block carving or printing.  And the preservation of the craft is one of the museum's raison d'etre. 

Next we watched as a block was dipped in indigo dye and stamped onto white fabric.  There were several steps to this as the fabric was first stamped with a border pattern and then another block was used for the body.  To our amzement, everything lined up perfectly yet there was were no rulers or tape measures - just generations of experience!

Afterward, Amisha and I got a chance to block print a handkerchief.  Ours weren't as perfect but that wasn't from lack of trying as you can see from the concentration on Amisha's face.

  In spite of the long tradition and craft of hand block printing, demand for these authentic textiles has diminished with the introduction of new and cheaper machine prints.  The artisans in the museum were excited to hear about our company finding updated, modern ways to reinterpret their art and helping to keep it alive.  So Amisha and I may not ever decide to block print our own textiles but rest assured that they will always be hand block printed by amazing artisans!

Ode Kids on Kids Style Source

We are really excited to announce that we have been featured on Kid Style Source, check out the page here Kid Style Source or read the feature pasted below:

"It's fitting that sisters Rupa Motwani and Amisha Patel have created a collection that effortlessly blends the traditional with the modern and offers an aesthetic that's as global as it is homegrown. When Motwani's daughter Arya expressed that she was "regular," not Indian, Patel decided that on her next trip to India she would  have modern dresses designed for her niece using traditional Indian textiles in an effort to merge "regular" with Indian.  The resulting designs inspired the launch of Ode, the name of the village in India from which their family hails.

“Our line relies on the beauty of the textiles and the magic of childhood. Vibrant colors and sweet silhouettes distinguish our line from the miniature adult clothing that you see in the marketplace. We seek out artisanal fabrics from around the world to bring a true global aesthetic to the line,” says Patel.

The debut seasons boast an array of ikats and block prints inspired by the color of spices, the sea and the lush landscape of southern India. These rich patterns are used for hip silhouettes ranging from apron dresses and bubble dresses to tunic dresses and shirt dresses, as well as a variety of tops and bottoms up to girls' size 8.

According to  Motwani and Patel, they wanted Ode "to evoke faraway places without looking like souvenirs. Ode is committed to celebrating difference and showing just how magical home can be when it is a place with no borders."

Available for Spring 2011 through its own website, partner sites and trunk shows, the brand made its wholesale debut at the Children’s Club in March and at the Playtime New York show in July. Positive feedback and requests for smaller sizes has resulted in the addition of a baby collection for Spring 2012 in sizes 6 months-24 months.

Based in New York and produced in India,  the 25-piece collection wholesales from $17-$41."

 Thanks again to Kid Style Source!

Ode Kids in Playtime New York Video

This video, created by Jeanne of Bellissima Kids, showcases our line, amongst others, at the Playtime New York Show. Great work Jeanne!