by When Amaia Arrieta saw a Mother’s Day photo posted by the Prince and Princess of Wales earlier this year, she was delighted to see that Princess Charlotte was wearing a check skirt from her children’s clothing label, Amaia London. She thought it was just the latest in a long line of examples of British children wearing her designs.
Of course, the image would be controversial – but it will still be a testament to the bonds between Amaia and the members of the Royal family that began when Prince George was just a child.
‘The way the royals dress makes me so proud, I really don’t care what they look like,’ Arrieta reveals. ‘I’m heartbroken at the moment, I think they’re going through hell, I hope they come back. It’s a personal thing.’
Today is Princess Charlotte’s ninth birthday and whether or not she wears Amaia in the birthday portrait that the Prince and Princess of Wales are expected to release later in the day, it’s going to be a lot of fun to see the future king or one of his sisters in the making. It was now a huge honor as this was the first time it happened in 2014, when a Christmas photo of Prince George was released in which he wore a pair of Amaia corcuroy shorts and knee-high socks.
‘The first time I realized Prince George was wearing my designs I was in Waitrose and I saw the picture of him on the cover of Hello! Iris,’ Arrieta remembers, ‘that was a great moment because they were coming to us but you never know if they wear it.’
From Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, to the Coronation of King Charles and Princess Eugenie’s wedding, to family christenings, birthdays and Christmas Day church services, Arrieta has helped create a look for Britain’s children that is timeless, flawless and in always surprising.
Some may have criticized the Prince and Princess’ approach to heritage-based style, but Arrieta believes they ‘put the traditional and classic way of dressing children on the map… I don’t think it looks old. -modern on them’. Furthermore, although this may make it hard to believe, for every Liberty print smock dress and elegant coat (styles that are always a bestseller at Amaia) in the young British wardrobe, there is a pair of Adidas trainers or t- there is also practical material. a shirt from John Lewis or a Tu at Sainsbury’s, an approach Arrieta can sympathize with.
A mother of three – she has a son and two daughters in their teens and early twenties – Arrieta is a veteran of the delicate negotiations parents can have when they have the grumpy sprog insisting on anything plastered with Peppa Pig though they prefer them. wearing outfits that could have been seen on princesses Elizabeth and Margaret nearly a century ago (in fact many of Arrieta’s girls’ dresses look like they could have been straight out of the Queen’s childhood wardrobe, which lasts).
‘It’s not easy,’ admits Arrieta, who herself exudes ‘quiet luxury’ in neutral attire and investment accessories. ‘I had the same thing where they wanted Princess pajamas and Disney T-shirts. I’m not the type of mum who would say ‘no’, but you have to give in somehow, like the pyjamas that no one is going to see. There’s a subtle way to do it so they don’t feel frustrated… a nice coat with a superhero T-shirt underneath.’
Arrieta founded Amaia ‘out of necessity’. Born in Spain, she had just retired from a career in international finance in London when she was expecting her first child 20 years ago. ‘I started looking for children’s clothes and I couldn’t find similar things in Spain and I would go to Spain, buy everything there and come back to London. Then all my friends would say “Oh, it’s so cute, I want the same thing”.’
She felt that there was a gap in the market due to the unfussy but sweet clothes that Spanish labels were making (ironically in a quintessentially English style). ‘You had the very high end designer clothes, and you had the very low end, but nothing in between that was good value for money, in good materials and good fabric.’ She began importing pieces from labels not previously sold in the UK and eventually started her own line.
Members of the Royal family were clients long before William and Catherine started their family. Although it is often assumed that the connection came from the Welsh Spanish nanny Maria Borrallo, it was Lady Serena Linley (former wife of Princess Margaret’s son, David Armstrong Jones, now Earl of Snowdon) and her children’s nanny Jessie Webb, a regular visitor to the Amaia store in Chelsea, helped introduce the now Princess of Wales to Arrieta’s designs. Webb had previously looked after William and Harry and was drafted in to help George in the early days.
Now Arrieta works closely with Borrallo to find the perfect outfits for the kids. ‘It’s often a very tight deadline,’ explains Arrieta, praising the intense preparation that goes on behind the scenes to create the picture-perfect moments the family is known for. ‘We’d do anything for them… the kids look great in the end.’
Princess Charlotte will soon be too old to wear Amaia’s ready-to-wear collection, which goes up to age 10 for girls. Then, William and Catherine will face another dilemma that many parents of tween girls have had to face. ‘When they get to that age, the kids get the choice, it’s not the mother who’s shopping for them, it’s the little girl who’s going with her school friends and wearing their clothes,’ she says, admitting that Brandy Melville more attractive than a cute floral smock for this demographic.
‘It’s a big issue when they get a bit older, because they’re in no man’s land, it’s a tricky age. They go to Zara or Mango. For good clients, we’ll do something for the older ones but it’s a very risky business … unless I open another great store with a nail parlor or something like that.’ Now there is an idea to keep his royal habit going.
But the relationships you can create by making children’s clothes have a longevity that doesn’t end when the teens hit. The label is reaching the stage where the children who first wore its designs are coming back as adults. Maybe not enough with their own offspring, but as brides look for bridesmaid and pageboy outfits.
‘Yesterday, a customer came in with her daughter, who used to dress in Amaia when she was younger, and now she’s getting married,’ explains Arrieta. ‘I am very honoured, it meant so much to me and my mother. he was looking forward to having an excuse to come back.’
Arrieta’s own children Ion, 21, Ines, 20, and Ariane, 14, have always been her inspiration, and they modeled Amaia during their childhood. Although the older two love to see children wearing their mother’s creations, they have no ambitions to be involved in the business. However, her youngest daughter is showing signs of promise. ‘She helps with the photos and tells me I should have a Tik Tok account,’ laughs Arrieta.
Who said traditional style couldn’t move with the times?
