Zara and Sea’s New Collection Celebrates the Joy of Being a Kid

The new collaboration is filled with joy and whimsy, but nothing about it is overtly kid-ish or cutesy, which was intentional, according to the designers. As Monahan notes, “For our own collection, we try to design pieces that aren’t precious but also feel special. Things you can wear daily that have a bit of soul and character in the details.” He adds, “We wanted this collection to have that special something as well, and of course, be functional and comfortable.”

That balance of stylish, practical, playful and sophisticated can be difficult to suss out in the behemoth world of kid’s clothing, where there isn’t much middle ground between disposable cartoon-bedecked tees and insanely high-priced specialty fashion. Only a handful of brands offer well-priced, well-made clothes for a range of baby and kids sizes that encourage self-expression and imagination but are as chic as they are wearable. As parents themselves, Paolini and Monahan recognized this early on in their careers. That’s why they’ve dabbled in childrenswear in the past, but this opportunity with Zara has opened them up to new possibilities and new audiences.

Despite the scale of the collaboration, Paolini and Monahan still began their process from an intimate, personal place. “When we started to envision the collection, we started to sketch on an image of Rei,” says Paolini, referring to Monahan’s 5-year-old daughter. Rei, she says, “is not shy about expressing her opinion and is always curious to see what we’re working on.” Curiosity was another key component for the designers. That essence of curiosity was captured beautifully in the campaign featuring a group of free-spirited city kids photographed by Quentin Be Briey and styled by Thistle Brown.

These are clothes meant to be worn and loved, but also to provide kids with a wardrobe they can experiment with. “We quickly learned, especially with Rei, that dressing up is a real daily joy and form of self-expression,” Monahan said. “Kids are full of life, curiosity, and dreams, and we felt inspired by that vibrant feeling.”

Brooke Bobb is the fashion news director at Harper’s Bazaar, working across print and digital platforms. Previously, she was a senior content editor at Amazon Fashion, and worked at Vogue Runway as senior fashion news writer.