Meet the small biz Founder: Vandal Kids

We love to meet small business founders doing inspirational things! This month we bring you Kat of Vandalkids and get to know a little bit about her and her business with a Q&A.

1) Tell us about you & your business

I’m Kat Vandal, a French mum of a 6-year-old boy, living in London. Before launching Vandalkids, I worked for 14 years in retail Marketing, branding and visual merchandising for cosmetics brands such as Max Factor, Rimmel and Bourjois. I’m obsessed with upcycling, street art and street style. Vandalkids is a clothing brand for kids aged 3-10 (and soon 16!). Our mission is to champion kids’ creativity, make parents’ lives easier and be kinder to the planet We do this by making clothes that are practical, comfortable, and durable for kids to wear without worry and nofuss every day, over and over. Our clothes have been designed to last longer, with super soft cotton on skin and water-resistant shell where clothes suffer the most (from staining to rubbing) to reduce the need to wash and prolong their lifespan. But also designs thought through to be worn more: oversized styles, short sleeves for layering and so kids don’t grow out of them too quickly, adjustable waists for comfort. All this without compromising on style. Our first collection is inspired by 80’s street art and every collection will have a strong artistic spin to it with cool art collabs to come. I’m passionate that kids’ clothes should be inspiring and enablers rather than a source of restriction or concern. And I believe that wearing clothes for longer is kinder to the planet and easier on parents.

2) What motivated you to start a business?

I decided to take the plunge and have my own business for few reasons. Firstly, from a lifestyle point of view, I wanted the flexibility to spend more time with my son after demanding jobs, working and commuting for long hours and seeing him only one hour a day. I felt like I was always rushing at the school gate, missing assemblies, and other school activities. Personally, from a career point of view, I was tired of working for big groups and wanted my day-to-day work to have more impact, I wanted the freedom to express my creativity more as well. And as to what motivated me to created Vandalkids specifically: I value creativity as one of the best tools for success and happiness so I let my son explore, experiment, create, be messy, but I was tired of constantly washing and throwing away his clothes. It wasn’t good for me, it wasn’t good for the planet. I see fashion as a form of art and self-expression and think it is a shame to wear dirty, damaged clothes or uncomfortable covers because you might get messy, while keeping designer clothes for special occasions resulting in them being worn a few times only. Therefore I decided to create clothes that could be worn more! Not just occasionally but everyday. Not for a few months only but beyond. Because I believe that it’s better for the planet and easier on parents.

3) What’s your proudest moment to date?

My proudest moment is the pop-up concept store we ran in Old Spitalfields market recently where parents and kids had an amazing time experiencing the DNA of the brand and bought into my products. It was a short notice opportunity and I’m proud that we pulled it off, with the help of Old Spitalfields market, my intern and.. my builder! My son got really involved too and he was so proud of seeing it come to life in a “real shop”. Being shortlisted by the Junior Design Awards is quite up there too as a proud moment.

4) Have you faced any unexpected challenges?

I have faced a lot of unexpected challenges, and this experience has been a real test for my resilience: customs issues, production rice increase, shortages, delays… A lot of challenges came from the production process. But also the challenge of selling Direct to customer online with a small advertising budget is real, in a saturated market. I have to be extra creative in finding ways to be visible through collaborations and content creation which is much more time consuming than I expected.

5) What tip would you give to someone that would like to start a product business?

Working for yourself, alone at home, can be a double edge sword. You’re comfortable and flexible but it can be hard to get everything done due to a lack of motivation/clear deadlines as well as the distraction of household’s tasks and school duties. It’s also hard to be inspired due to a lack of experiencing life outside your home/seeing people. I would say be very disciplined with your days. Even if you embrace the flexibility, it should still be fairly structured so you don’t end up overwhelmed by the amount of work. Keep your daily to do list short so you are not feeling deflated at night for not completing it and trying to catch up. Set yourself a start and end time of the day, and take regular breaks (go for a walk, go visit some stores, see people face to face, don’t stay home all day). Make sure that when you’re with the kids, you switch off, even if it’s just an hour and work again in the evening after bedtime. Create rituals for your physical and mental health (morning or lunch time: sport, meditation, see a friend or call a friend to talk about everything else but work). I made the mistake of putting everything on the side and work 24/7, not letting myself have breaks. Being more present physically than in my old job (school drop offs, pick-ups, after school), but actually less mentally present. As for the business side of things, surround yourself with experts that care about the brand, make sure before you spend money on yet another consultant or freelancer, that they really love the brand and want it to succeed. Identify your strengths and weaknesses and make sure you get help where you’re not feeling as confident. Be quick with your decisions, but be patient with the results. A few months after launching, after the hype of the launch, there might be a moment where the universe is testing you, and you might feel deflated that it’s not selling as fast or as much as expected, it takes time to build awareness and trust. Keep going but also be clear on how much you are willing to invest and potentially lose and set ambitious yet realistic targets. Try to feel empowered by mistakes: success is the results of a series of mistakes. See mistakes as learning opportunities, don’t dwell on them, move on with the learning knowing next time it’ll work better.

6) What’s your priority for the rest of 2022?

My Priority now that I am launching a 2 nd drop and have more of a range, is to approach retailers to sell wholesale and relieve the pressure from selling solely from my website. I also want to find more opportunities to do kids pop ups like the one we just did in Old Spitalfields Market where both parents and Kids were entertained and could experience the brand and our products.

7) What’s the most rebellious things you’ve ever done?

Dare I say leave a well-paid job to launch my business in an industry I had no experience in, during Covid and against all the warnings? Moved to NYC on my own “to improve my English” (slash party every night), sneak friends into my bedroom while my parents were asleep, go clubbing when I was supposed to stay at a friend’s house, organise forbidden house parties, instigate a bit of chaos in class…

8) What’s your best lunchbox tip?

My best tip is to get my son involved in the content of the lunchbox while guiding him to have: 1 starchy food, 1 fruit/veg, 1 dairy, 1 protein – and of course some Snackzilla!

You can find out more about Vandal Kids here