Featuring t-shirts and baby suits with quirky one liners, Lappit, a relatively new online store, ensures that your little one has clothes that match his or her fun personality
CHRISTINE MACHADO
Fed up with the limited choices for baby clothes available in the market? Looking for something other than outfits with little monkeys, flowers and bears on them? Navelim based Andrea Mascarenhas completely gets you. Having just moved back to Goa from Dubai last year, the then expectant mother was looking to have some fun while dressing up her little one but just couldn't find any outfits that were fun enough. Shortly after her baby was born, she was more convinced then ever that she had to take matters into her own hands.
Her baby, she says, was bratty, demanding and had some serious attitude and spunk in her mischievous eyes and ‘I love Mummy' bodysuits just didn't cut it! So together with her husband Ezer, they decided to launch Lappit, a store especially meant for baby clothes and accessories. Lapitt - pronounced as ‘La - pitt', is a colloquial word in Konkani (the local language of Goa) for a mischievous or bratty child. Much like the brand's inspiration - their own little one.
"The main aim of Lappit is to offer something fun and quirky for babies, which was something we found lacking in the market," says Andrea.
Organic cotton was the choice of material chosen for their venture. "I don't know about other mothers but with my newborn I was quite neurotic when it came to everything being clean and sterilised!" she says laughing. "This is why we chose white as it is easy to spot dirt on it. I also wanted the clothes to be organic because I felt it was the best for baby skin."
Also, the couple felt that if they made organic cotton more affordable, more people would choose these outfits. " Organic cotton is generally associated with being expensive and we wanted to make it more affordable and priced our products accordingly," says Andrea. The couple found a supplier from South India, Ezer, who comes from a design background began with the product designs and things were set into motion. Their little Baby S became the inspiration for ideas, the official brand ambassador, the test dummy, the model and the drawing board. The Original Lapitt; as Andrea likes to call her.
To start off, Lappit first began by showcasing their products at a flea market at Goa Marriot Resort and Spa, Miramar in December 2016. "We decided to give it a try to test out the market and see whether we were the only ones who felt this lack in baby wear," states Andrea.
What they discovered was that a lot of other young parents and people looking for baby gifts were indeed looking for something different and quirky and this egged them on. "We also got a lot of grandparents looking to buy something for their grandchildren!" shares Andrea
Today, Lapitt has garnered a substantial client-base and fan-following. The brand currently stocks baby wear up to 12 months in t-shirts and bodysuits, apart from hairbands. They are styled with an envelope neck for hassle-free dressing. The bodysuit comes with a snap-fastener opening at the bottom for easy nappy changes. Care is taken to ensure that clothes don't shrink two sizes smaller or result in faded prints in just one wash or give babies sore necklines from itchy labels.
The brand has so far participated in two pop-up markets in Goa and one in Pune and hope to now take it to Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Apart from being available on their online site, they currently stock their products at OMO in Mumbai which is all set to open a store in Goa soon. They have also tied up with People Tree, Assagao and will be putting up their products there soon.
But there are a few challenges as well. " Being a mum and having a business I would say is my biggest one so far. There are times when I will be on an important phone call and she will decide it's the best time to start crying," says Andrea laughing.
Apart from this plans are on to branch out into baby accessories and gift sets. "We are looking at coming out with some quirky hand made toys and baby wrap. We also hope to go into shoes a little later," says Andrea. And with Baby S, the original Lappit turning one next week, the brand has something special planned on their social media accounts.
