Petit Tribe

Petit Tribe is a new fashion childrenswear brand founded by Olatoun Jolaoso with the creative direction of British designer Joanne Jong. Very much an Anglo African project, this strong print based collection dresses girls and boys up to the age of 12 as well as newborns and babies and will be available to buy online at petittribe.com in January 2015. Olatoun, a Nigerian entrepreneur who studied in both the US and the UK, began thinking about starting a childrenswear collection when pregnant with her daughter almost 4 years ago. She was inspired by the nomadic Fulani Tribe which she saw and connected with almost every day while growing up in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna. Their astonishingly vibrant prints and patterns inform the design and very basis of Petit Tribe but Olatoun was also impressed by their strength, hard work, deep sense of community and their ability to fuse cultural and practical aspects of different societies visited during their far reaching journeys over the centuries. In the spring of 2013 the London connection was made. The contemporary design, the detailed finishing, the urban globetrotting influences, all began to mix with the early African roots of Petit Tribe when Olatoun met Joanne Jong, fashion designer and consultant. Joanne has a wealth of experience gained at Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Daks, Liberty, ME+EM and other luxury fashion houses in Europe. Both mothers and entrepreneurs, Olatoun and Joanne spent almost 18 months developing Petit Tribe, trying out samples and styles on their own daughters as well as on various other children of the extended Petit Tribe team and family. The Petit Tribe child is curious, bold, fun loving — an explorer.