Mini-me matching mom’s and daughter’s style

Every little lady wants to be like her mom, and loves imitating her. At the same time mothers find it adorable to see their “mini” version. To dress the child in this image reflects the desire to transmit a lifestyle. No matter if the "mini-me-trend" is a form of marketing strategy, or rather parents projecting their fantasies on their children– the fashion industry, responds to societal demand and to please parents, miniaturizes their garments. Matching a mother and daughter’s style has become a global trend adopted both by famous celebrities, as well as great fashion houses and ready-to-wear brands.

“Mini-me-trend" as a marketing strategy?

This phenomenon reveals “consumer insight” in our society: The desire of Eternal Youth. We must to look still like a teen, forever young – especially in Western societies, there is a tendency to propagate and imitate a “youth culture”. Clothing brands effectively use this fact to increase their gains and business growth, offering their adult clients clothing lines stylized on a “teenaged“ look.

How the line between the old and young generations is becoming more blurred is perfectly demonstrated (shown) by the the campaign Petit Bateau. The age of a person is presented as a number of months, just as babies age is determined, to illustrate and even more strongly underline the idea of being “forever young“.

There is also a contrary direction with transforming our child into a miniature replica of ourselves as realized marketing strategy of many fashion brands. The launching of a kids clothing line ensures a smooth transition to a new level. The targeting of the "mother-daughter" is even an additional marketing opportunity, which could be translated into a form of interesting photo shoots with mom and her toddler. This is a perfect medium of communication in the area of social media and for the young generations who are growing up in a pictorial reality. The "mother-daughter" image spreads very fast, most strongly in photo-based media such as pinterest and instagram. There is an enormous amount of images in the social network with hashtags: "Mommy & Me Twinning" or "Mini-Me fashion".

Should young and old look totally identical?

The strategy depends more on what the brand wants to transmit. Some fashion houses have extended their range by offering a line for children, inspired by the spirit of their brand as Kenzo Kids, Karl Lagerfeld Kids, Galliano Kids, Burberry, Mango, whereas others labels are based more on the duplication of their adult garments in mini size, such as Anne Valerie Hash with “Mademoiselle” lines since 2008 or Dolce & Gabbana since 2014, with regular special lines inspired by the "mini-me" concept.

Anne Valerie Hash, "Mademoiselle" line for spring/summer 2012

Runway Dolce & Gabbana, "Mini-me" line, AW 2015

Mother and daughter –"twinning" trend in the world of celebrities

There is no doubt that the "twinning" trend has been popularized by a growing number of celebrities styling their children on their own image. Matching mother and daughter outfits we can observe in the stylizations of Kim Kardashian, Katie Holmes, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker or Cindy Crawford. Thanks this global trend, the consumer machine moves and increases buying opportunities, targeting an increasingly wide market. As an example, some fashion stylists present a picture of a famous mother with her small daughter copy as a model to directly follow suggestions and tips on which garments you can create your own "mini-me-look" based on popular, and widely available fashion labels, including even the costs of products. It is a simple psychological method of how to influence the behavior of consumers, using admiration for famous, adorable people. Who would not want to look and be the same as their favorite beautiful stars and their lovely children ?

The famous mothers with their children as representatives of "twinning" trend: Kim Kardashian, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez

The famous mothers with their children as representatives of "twinning" trend: Sarah Jessica Parker, Cindy Crowford

The similar look of Katie Holmes and her daughter -Suri Cruise as an inspiration for fashion stylist and blogger

Brands and shops specializing in “mini-me” clothing

Is this trend a rather new phenomenon for global fashion recipients, especially for British consumers ?

In the history of clothing, the kingdom has always been the biggest medium for spreading fashion trends. People watching the royal court, which created new fashion tendency, tried to transplant and imitate its tastes. Especially for the British their Kingdom is something unique, which is observed, respected and adorable. It turns out that even Lady Diana and her successor Kate Middleton promoted the idea of dressing children in a similar way as their own outfits. In the case of Diana Spencer we can talk about the imitation of a total look, while Kate Middleton prefers a more subtle transposition of her clothes onto the outfits of her children, most often using the same, monochrome colour combinations.

Lady Diana and Kate Middleton as a perfect medium for promoting "mini-me-trend"

Through the presence of the "mini-me-trend" even in the royal court, it seems quite understandable that on the British clothing market turns out new clothing brands based only on products dedicated to mother and her daughter such like Mini-me London (official website: http://www.mini-melondon.com/) Also, the biggest giant among widely available fashion labels on the British market- store chain Primark - launched a special line addressed to mom and her child, an image reinforced through a successful communication campaign.

Primark, campaign for a season spring/summer 2017

Is this trend without a risk for the identity of children or the end of kidswear brands ?

If adult brands going into child creation should be taken into consideration if there is no risk for existence of children brands. However, for brands specializing in kidswear there is no fear of them completely disappearing, because they know best how to design a child- friendly product using all standards and functionality appropriate for children and there are full of colours and ideal express an infantile taste or desires of kids. In addition to this, children's luxury brands do not reduce prices for younger customers, even in "mini-me" lines, and it is obvious, that not every parent who is aware that children grow quickly and like to get dirty very fast, will spend a large sum of money buying clothes for his or her child. Another issue is the discourse on the disappearance of the child identity and its infantile nature by the spreading of adult clothing in their mini versions and the intenseness of that tendency. In times when concepts of "gender" and the blurring of the boundaries between the feminine and the masculine are so often discussed, also cases of the loss of the identity of children through their stylizations on adults should be considered. Therefore, fashion marketing strategy and communication campaigns should take into account the images they submit to the general public and their moral aspect, taking full responsibility and with great awareness.

Author: Edyta Kurdas