It’s pretty surprising how difficult it is to find clothing kids that doesn’t scream: “I’m a boy,” or “I’m a girl” or pieces that aren’t overtly cutesy or character and brand-driven. Not to mention clothes that are made using high quality materials! We recently discovered a brand that’s defying the kids’ clothing norm featuring beautiful and high-quality gender neutral tees that’s super soft and joy-inspired!
Founded by Shannon Murray-Doffo and her husband, Gonzalo, who was venting after being frustrated with the lack of options in stores. Gonzalo suggested that she create something from these frustrations, thus Living Loudly was born!
Designed for parents of children ages 3-8 years old, Living Loudly infuses joy into everything that they do which we experienced first-hand when we received their circular colorful packaging that included the vibrant tees wrapped in a story about the shirt. It was so fun to read the story together and then later plant as the paper is made of seeds that turns into wild flowers. I was also surprised by the quality and feel of the shirts that’s made of rayon from bamboo, organic cotton, and rayon that is so soft and buttery to the touch. Complimented with clever designs, my kids loved to rock these creative and happy tees.
Living Loudly also offers workshops for parents such as gratitude, emotional intelligence, and reconnecting with your partner, specifically designed for parents of children ages 3-8 years old.
An exciting time for the brand, we were thrilled to learn more in our latest interview with Shannon Murray-Doffo who shared more about how the idea came to fruition to what’s next.
Interview with Shannon Murray-Doffo of Living Loudly
Weekend Jaunts: How did the idea for Living Loudly come about?
Living Loudly: The idea of Living Loudly initially came from a venting session. I was ranting about the lack of joy in the world, the crappy selection of boys clothing available in stores, and how out of the loop I felt after coming home from a two-day work trip. My husband, being the supportive and ever positive man that he is, simply listened and asked why I didn’t create something positive from my frustrations. Thus, Living Loudly was born! Our main purpose is to give parents small moments in time where they can bond with their children in a way that sparks creativity and celebrates childhood.
The name Living Loudly reflects how we and our target audience (parents of children 3-8) aspire to live our lives. Which is to say, our lives mostly consist of various versions of loud, organized chaos. It is generally never quiet, but when it is… we panic.
Weekend Jaunts: How do you decide on the styles and cool prints for the tees?
Living Loudly: Walking through the boy’s clothing aisles, one can generally find violent images of hulky monsters or shirts that are essentially walking billboards.Our styles stem from my own son’s growing independence in combination with my interest in creating meaningful experiences with him.
Our styles were created to be comfortable, non-scratchy, resilient, and super soft. (When my son tried our final prototype, he exclaimed ‘This is ACTUALLY comfortable!’)
The prints have foundations in street art so they pass the cool test and they’re suitable for littles which means they are parent approved! Each tee’s graphic was designed to celebrate children and encourage the magic behind their imaginations. We give each character a name and a teachable story to make the image spring to life. In turn, the story creates a meaningful conversation between parent and child.
Because I love gardening and wanted our brand to give back in an eco-friendly way, we printed those stories on seed paper that produces wildflowers. When parent and child plant the wildflowers, they are creating a micro experience together.
Weekend Jaunts: Having parent workshops is really unique for a clothing company – tell us more about that!
Living Loudly: We always wanted to be more than just another clothing line for kids. Our on-demand workshops help foster a community of parents who feel supported and seen. We know parenting is hard, and while there is a plethora of information out there for parents of newborns, infants, pre-teens, and teenagers there is very little covering developing children ages 3 to 8. Both parents and children are learning together how to navigate, and we want to help. Our workshops teach the importance of things like gratitude, emotional intelligence, and reconnecting with your partner.
Weekend Jaunts: How are you different from what’s out there?
Living Loudly: We infuse joy into every single part of the customer experience. We combine colorful packaging, super soft fabric, and paper-that-will-become-wild flowers to spur children’s imaginations and help them grow closer to their parents in an epically fun way.
Weekend Jaunts: What’s next for Living Loudly?
Living Loudly: Right now is such an exciting time for Living Loudly because we have SO many projects in the works. We are partnering up with some really amazing parenting experts to tackle the current tough topics that keep parents up at night. These topics will be featured on our website and will help us plan a new round of workshops set to launch with our Spring 2021 collection.
For the 2020 holiday season, we will be launching a limited collection of pima cotton rompers. While Spring/Summer 2021 seems like forever away, we are also in the throes of those designs and are so excited to launch our first full collection (shorts, outerwear, etc) at that time.
