KEY POINTS:
Fancy a Trelise Cooper jacket for $285, a Bellerose white long-sleeved T-shirt for $120, or a DKNY denim skirt for $161.50?
You might be prepared to spend these amounts on an outfit for yourself, but these are children's clothes we're talking about.
Designer labels with the price tags
to match are no longer the preserve of mums and dads - mini fashion items for their offspring are becoming more popular than ever.
At these kinds of prices, parents could end up spending more than $500 to outfit a child under the age of 10.
A pair of DKNY jeans for a 6-month-old baby boy could set you back $133.90, or how about $214.90 for a pinafore for a 6-month-old baby girl?
Designers and store owners maintain they are offering greater choice for parents and kids alike.
Local designer Trelise Cooper launched her Trelise Cooper Kids range for girls aged 2 to 8 late last year.
Cooper says that parents are prepared to pay her prices for their children to look good.
She says she always felt her clothing lent itself towards girls wear, and is surprised by the number of other international designers who have developed a range of kidswear. However Cooper says many have only just started kids' lines, reflecting a new trend.
Designer labels which now make a children's or junior range include Christian Lacroix, Levi's, and Nike.
"It's the way the world is going, into much more niche brands... and parents are definitely interested in what their kids wear. Clothes are not just to keep kids warm any more, and kids are interested in what they wear too," Cooper says.
She says many parents who already have themselves well turned out do not want their children wearing "daggy clothes".
Tom Agee, a senior lecturer in the marketing department of the University of Auckland, criticised the opening of the Cooper store in a Marketing Magazine article, saying it "had an invitation-only opening aimed at those very well-off, fashion-conscious mums who see their little princesses as an extension of themselves".
"Unfortunately parents may be creating huge problems for themselves in later life by passing their own insecurities about feeling accepted and admired onto their kids," Agee said.
Catriona Stewart, owner of Auckland children's fashion store Sugar Free, disagrees: "The children's clothing market is developing and evolving in just the same way as men's and women's fashion. It's about people being able to express themselves, or children being able to express themselves."
She says her store has grown in popularity over the past two years, with a variety of customers. Items instore range from $10 to $200, and Stewart is disappointed people often take a negative view of the trend.
"This allows people so much more choice, and we've found that kids love it, they really enjoy being able to choose what they like."
Agee agrees that the trend for designer clothing is growing in New Zealand, but worries about how young kids are being made to think about brands.
"It was bad enough when kids were at high school, but it's becoming much earlier ages now... There's a whole culture coming along for kids of that age, which is tied in with the internet, and with cellphones.
"They want everything, from icon-brand clothing to cellphones, because everyone else has them."
Agee also questions how long the child will actually wear the items of clothing. The rate of children's growth, along with the natural wear and tear of any items, means a $120 T-shirt will be lucky to last one season.
"It's bad enough for us to want to wear CK jeans or whatever it might be, but now you've got these kids whose parents are buying into this, and probably perpetuating it, and they're learning very early on that you've got to have this brand because that's what everyone else is having," Agee says.
"Designer clothes have always cost adults more, but why do children have to have designer clothes?"
