On Trend Tots
Nicola Law has created a new baby brand designed with adults in mind – a wonderful collection of toddler feeding accessories inspired by the latest kitchen trends and colourways
When entrepreneurial young mum Nicola Law couldn’t find design-led highchair and feeding accessories for her first baby, she decided to create them herself.
Her daughter Tilly was six months old when Nicola bought an Ikea highchair – however after searching the internet she couldn’t find any accessories for the highchair that matched her smart new kitchen.
“The Ikea highchair is probably the most popular on the market, everyone seems to have one! But Tilly was fairly small and needed support, so I ended up trying to find cushions that matched our kitchen.
“I searched everywhere online but just couldn’t find anything. It struck me that as soon as you have a baby, your home aesthetics have to be abandoned, but I didn’t see it that way,” recalls Nicola, who was born and brought up in the Ribble Valley and now lives in Alderley Edge with her lawyer husband Torquil and two children.
Being unable to source any accessories to match their kitchen, Nicola spotted a gap in the market: “Basically there was nothing and I suddenly thought there was a huge opportunity as there must be thousands of mums in the same dilemma.”
As the Ikea chair is so popular, she decided to design her own cushion fabric and found a company in Accrington that would make and plastic-coat the fabric.
Having studied Business, Psychology and Fine Art at college, she took inspiration for her designs from current interiors trends.
“A lot of kitchens feature very muted tones of sage green, graphite grey and cream so that’s the route I went down.
“My aim was not to create a ‘baby brand’ but design with adults in mind – with cool block colours that matched on-trend kitchen colours.”
Among the current best sellers is her Dalmatian print which features black spots on muted background palettes: “That’s our core design,” adds Nicola, who also commissioned a Darwen company to make beech footrests for the highchair.
“Most babies and toddlers need foot support too, so we have a footrest that just slots on. I was really keen to use Lancashire craftspeople so the accessories are made locally where possible.”
When considering a name for her fledgling company she and her husband took inspiration from one of their favourite places, Malham Cove: “I looked up the definition of cove. It means ‘small bay’ surrounded by the sea and I liked the idea that the highchair cushion was surrounding the child, so Cove Baby was born!”
Once the Cove Baby website was up and running, Nicola decided to expand the product range using the same prints, as people seemed to love them so much: “We got some fantastic feedback so it was natural to grow the collection. We now do co-ordinated splash mats and lovely soft matching coverall bibs designed to make messy meal times easier. We have just launched silicone dishes, cups and cutlery sets in matching colourways, so everything works really well together from an aesthetic point of view.”
Along with the Cove Baby website, the products also feature on Etsy, Not On the High Street, and have recently launched through the hugely popular Scandiborn platform.
“We ship all over the world. Around 10 to 20 per cent of our products go to Canada and the US, which is great – and I’m so glad we can make the majority of our accessories in Lancashire,” says Nicola, who worked in London for a number of years as a Kate Middleton lookalike and was also responsible for developing the UK brand for Brazil-based Melissa shoes – renowned for their long-standing collaborations with designer Vivienne Westwood.
“We didn’t really want to bring a child up in a small flat in London and really wanted to come back up north to be nearer my parents, which is great.
“Launching Cove Baby has been fantastic as it means I can do my own thing – it has really evolved quite naturally. Having two children as well as a business to run is exhausting, but I love it and I am so pleased with how it’s going!” says Nicola, who is keen to get Cove Baby products into retail outlets in the Ribble Valley.
“I think Ribble Valley mums will love Cove Baby products!”
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