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The Story Behind London Littles

The Story Behind London Littles

Hello! We are Janssen and Bart Bradshaw, and along with our four little girls, we are the family behind London Littles.

We are so delighted you're here!

Inspiration for London Littles

In 2014 when our oldest two girls were small and I was pregnant with our third, we had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad in London during Bart's MBA program. 

Both of us had done study abroad in London separately as undergrads, but we'd never been together, so when the opportunity came up to go together along with our little girls, we couldn't say no. 

We adored the cafes, parks, and many opportunities for adventure in and around London. Every day was full of wonder, from riding double-decker buses along Oxford Street to seeing a fireball catapulted across the grounds during a daytrip to Warwick Castle, and even spying the queen on Exhibition Road.

On a family road trip a few years later, Bart and I started chatting about starting a line of children’s products.

What initially began as a fun conversation to make the miles go a little faster quickly morphed into a detailed discussion of the kind of dream brand we’d love to create.

Our girls were at such fun ages, full of curiosity and excitement for life, and we wanted a brand that could capture all the magic and adventure of childhood.

We discussed dozens of different options for what product would be right to launch this brand with, and we kept coming back to rain boots.

We knew instantly our brand would include the London flair we fell in love with during our time abroad.

I loved the bit of whimsy that rain boots inherently have, it’s super convenient that my girls can put them on and take them off on their own, and they’re so easy to wipe down after all sorts of adventures, from stomping in puddles to sandy beach days to playing in the sprinklers in the backyard.

A Family Business

After that fateful road trip, Bart and I spent most of the next year working on everything from packaging and logo design to prototypes, sizing, and patterns.

London Littles was such an adventure for our family that year.

I'd been blogging at Everyday Reading for a decade and one of my favorite parts was chance to learn all sorts of new things, and London Littles multiplied by ten.

We learned all about branding and manufacturing and packaging and fulfillment, and I loved getting to work with a lot of amazing people along the way who are ridiculously talented in their chosen fields.

I also think that working on a big project like this with your spouse can be fraught with peril, but for us, it brought us closer together as we’ve worked through dozens of designs, dealt with setbacks, made hundreds of decisions, and talked late into the night many many many evenings about all the different aspects of London Littles.

And when our first samples arrived, it was a magical moment.

It was the craziest thing to see this actual physical product after so much time figuring out colors, patterns, logo placement, sizing and all the other things that go into designing a product.

Even better has been watching our girls wear them on an almost daily basis since May of 2017, and seeing how much they love them and how cute they look with everything from little dresses to shorts and t-shirts.

Since our launch in September 2017, we have expanded our brand to include 11 beautiful designs of rain boots, children's sunglasses, and knee socks.

The best part of starting this little family business has been connecting with other families all over the country and seeing their many adventures. Thank you for letting us be a little part of your children's lives. 

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