Mademoiselle à Soho, New York children's fashion expertly crafted in Romania

By

Sarah Ahssen

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jul 10, 2017

Showcasing Romanian textile expertise is one of the ambitions of Alexana Bussenault, the French-Romanian founder of Mademoiselle à Soho, exhibiting for the first time in Paris at the Playtime trade show. Bussenault lives with her family in New York, where seven years ago she created a fashion label outfitting little boys and girls from 3 months to 10 years old (16 for some of the models).

"I used to make clothes for my children using fabrics from Romania. Another school mother, who owns a children's fashion store in Soho, loved the clothes. That's how the label started," said Alexana Bussenault.

Mademoiselle à Soho has a medium-high positioning and, after exhibiting at the Playtime New York and Children's Club trade shows in the USA, is distributed in about twenty stores in the country. And now the label has set its sights on Europe, where it wants to grow its presence, being notably available on childrenswear web concept store Smallable.

"The objective isn't turning [Mademoiselle à Soho] into an industrial brand, but finding quality retailers," said Alexana Bussenault, who is keen to emphasise the contribution of Romanian craftsmanship, which in her opinion is not appreciated enough. Mademoiselle à Soho's collections are manufactured by ten women in an artisanal atelier in Bucarest, Romania. The items are above all comfortable, and decorated with a wealth of embroidery and prints.