High style for the stroller set

By Beth Teitell
Globe Correspondent

Are we grooming a new generation of label-obsessed fashionistas? It would seem so. Spring is here, and with it, the must-have tot collections from Armani Junior, Dior Baby, Little Marc (as in Jacobs) are coming down the slide. Designers often outfit celebrities tiny enough to wear children's sizes, but these days more of them are clothing actual children.

Among the designer styles for kids is a 3.1 Phillip Lim shift dress ($325).

Toddler chic doesn't come cheap. Armani Junior is selling $175 tracksuits for infants. Stuart Weitzman has infant-sized flats for $65. Chloe's showing a jumper for the kindergarten set at $188. There are $106 True Religion jeans for 2-year-olds, and 3.1 Phillip Lim shift dresses for preschoolers for a cool $325.

Over the top? Of course. And yet, for kids cruising around the Back Bay in fully-loaded $1,200 Bugaboo strollers, an infant-sized $200 tie-dye dress from Burberry seems, for some affluent parents, rather reasonable.

Sure, the economy's tough. But shhhh. Don't tell the children. The high-end kiddie market hit $45 billion in 2006, according to Michael J. Silverstein, author of "Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer" and a senior partner with the Boston Consulting Group. "The baby is pretty recession proof," he wrote in an e-mail. Splurging starts with the crib and stroller and escalates into many other categories. "The mothers tell us they want their kids to get off to the right start."

Even so, Silverstein said he expects the apparel portion of the upscale children's industry to soften. But not everyone is abandoning high-end children's boutiques for JCPenney.

"I feel like you can get sweeter clothing at Bonpoint and Petite Bateau," said Back Bay mom Michele Gleason, as she pushed her sons along Newbury Street in a high-end double stroller. Both retailers have locations in the Back Bay.

This past winter Gleason bought 2-year-old Nicholas several cashmere sweaters, and on a recent morning he was wearing $100 sneakers. European, naturally. "It gives me an excuse to buy nice things for myself," Gleason said, laughing. "I have to match."

While many mothers adore dressing their kids in high style, not everyone is enthusiastic about the trend. "We're seeing the InStyle-ization of parenthood," says Pamela Paul, author of the new book, "Parenting, Inc." "The celebrity magazines have moved from wedding mania to baby mania."

Indeed, magazines such as UsWeekly and People are awash in celebrity baby fashion trivia. Last fall, OK! magazine reported that ultra-chic shoe designer Christian Louboutin was making shoes for then 18-month-old Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Zahara Jolie-Pitt was photographed carrying a small Valentino shoulder bag, made to match one owned by her mother, Angelina Jolie.

Designer label mania may seem a threat facing only the affluent, but no one's immune to its siren song. The same shimmer of celebrity that prompts working girls to spend $2,000 on handbags they see Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston carrying will make them covet whatever the tiny It girls are wearing, says Dana Thomas, author of "Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster." That's if they can even get it. Zahara's bag was fashioned just for her, the fur wraps Dolce & Gabbana made for Jennifer Lopez's new twins are not available in stores.

While dropping $150 on a cashmere hoodie for a baby appalls many people, in certain circles it's seen as a cheap way for mom to get her fashion fix. "You feel a little less guilty because it's not as expensive as buying a $600 shirt for yourself," says DailyCandy.com's Katie Dick, who, as managing editor, oversees the website's six kids' editions.

But can parents let their kids be kids if they're outfitted in toddler couture? Author Paul doesn't think so. "The message any parent will send is, 'No, no, no. Don't play in mud. You may get that dress dirty,"' she says. "What does that tell them about what's more important? Openly exploring their environment, or wearing something pretty?"

Which is why many parents subscribe to this philosophy: Better an expensive outfit - even one received as a gift - should go unworn than get soiled. Indeed, the tags still hang from almost one-third of the clothing donated to Room to Grow, a Boston and New York-based nonprofit that provides parents with support and baby supplies, reports the organization's Audrey Becker.

"We get lots of French clothing, lots of Burberry, Petit Bateau."