Designer makes eco-friendly kid clothes
Ricky Martin sang of living la vida loca, and Sandra Finkelstein has made a business out of living la vida pura. Finkelstein, 45, is founder and owner of Pura Vida nyc, a children’s clothing business that combines kids fashions with environmentalism. The line, which launched in August 2005 and is now in its fifth season, uses organic cotton and eco-friendly, sustainable fibers like bamboo and hemp that require little if any pesticide.
Over the past three years, the number of children’s wear businesses with organic lines has doubled each year, according to Tom Hudson, publisher of Hudson’s Childrenswear Review, a trade magazine. Hudson estimates there are 30 to 40 companies offering organic children’s clothing nationwide. Finkelstein, a veteran fashion designer, got the idea for the business at playgrounds following the birth of her daughter.
The clothes the kids were wearing were “very pink and bubble gum,” she recalled, and didn’t seem to reflect the style of clothing that she and other parents she knew wanted for their kids. “There was a real niche and void for parents who were looking for great casual sportswear with a little bit of an edge,” she said. The company’s name, which means pure life, was not inspired by Martin’s 1999 pop hit, but rather a greeting common in her mother’s homeland of Costa Rica.
“I liked the way people said it to you when they would meet you,” Finkelstein said. “Pura vida seemed to be the message that I was trying to extend to the consumer by doing this line.” Drawing on designers she worked with at Calvin Klein and other retailers where she spent most of her career, Finkelstein launched her inaugural spring 2006 collection within six months. Barneys New York placed a small order and followed up with a bigger buy for the fall season.