Hats off to Acorn Kids. For most of Millie’s young life her little head has been kept warm and cosy or cool and shaded – all while looking incredibly cute in an Acorn hat. Beautiful merino beanies or bright, reversible sunhats are adorning the heads of kiddies all over the country. We chat to the Melbourne mum behind the label.
Acorn SS14 Lily Sunhat and Florin Sunhat
Name and brand? Fiona Savaris, Acorn Kids
Where are you based? Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia
When was Acorn Kids established? Our first season was AW11 which was launched in March 2011, but I started working on the idea and sourcing samples and suppliers early in 2010.
Millie in an Acorn SS14 Lexi Reversible Sunhat
Why did you decide to create a children’s headwear label? Initially I was looking for a really good quality winter hat for my daughter but could only find options with a bit of cute factor made from acrylic, so decided to start making hats with 100% merino wool and lots of cute factor!
Acorn SS14 Giraffe Infant Sunhat
Your hats are like the icing on the cake for a youngster’s outfit. Where do you find your inspiration? Oh that is an awesome compliment! Lots of places really I am always looking at interesting colour combinations and prints. With the summer range I like to see what is happening in homewares and other areas of design to identify upcoming trends people may be drawn to by the time the range is released. For winter I am always on the lookout for inspiration of new knits, textures and of course the next cute animal-inspired beanie to make!
Acorn SS14 Darcy Trucker Cap
There’s a lot of market competition, how do you keep ahead of the pack? I first and foremost love my products and if there is that passion there from me I have found it will appeal to customers as well. I always strive for the best quality, no acrylics and other non-natural fibres that lead to little sweaty heads so people know that an Acorn product is a quality one. And with the designs I always keep evolving we may re-run some best sellers but we always need new designs each season that keeps the range fresh.
Is it possible to have a work/life balance? I think so, there are times the balance is certainly tested when deadlines are looming and especially when the range is delivered and wholesale shipping times but doing my own business allows me to work around my family, to be there for the school run for Vienna and hang out with my little boy Luca on his home days.
Acorn SS14 Freddie Bucket Hat
Best piece of business advice you’ve received? Do what you love and makes you happy and then you’ll never have to “work” a day in your life. This rings so true to me, as a former accountant I worked in a large corporate firm but just never felt satisfied. I loved fashion dearly and dreamed of producing a product that I loved. Following my heart and passion to firstly work in fashion for a number of local brands and then to start Acorn – it really has given me so much joy and satisfaction.
How has Instagram changed the way you advertise your brand? Instagram is such a great community and gets you in touch with so many like-minded people, it gives businesses like mine the opportunity to show their product in real life that I think it very authentic and appealing.
Acorn SS14 Pirate Bucket Hat and Olivia Reversible Sunhat
Favourite Acorn item? How do you like to see it styled? Oh difficult one, for summer I love the reversible sunhats for girls and just love seeing them worn both sides depending on the outfit and inclination of the little ones! For winter I will always have a soft spot for our animal beanies and love the timelessness of the cable knit range we do.
What’s next for Acorn? I’ve just finished working on next summer’s range plan so it will be all systems go to get that range sampled and looking amazing in the next few months and our AW15 is currently being hand made by our women’s collective. We’ve got a few new styles for the little superheroes that are going to be amazing.
Millie in the Acorn AW14 Cable Knit Beanie
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*Millie is an Acorn Kids brand ambassador