Meeting the Schoolchildren Running the Show at Eco Kiddies

Since we first started stocking Eco Kiddies socks in our Oxford shop, their colourful styles have become a hit with customers. The organic cotton kids’ socks feature fun animal designs and are made to be kind to the planet while donating 50% of profits to children’s healthcare charities. 

But Eco Kiddies are more than a sustainable sock company that gives back - there’s an unusual story behind the brand. Siblings Francis, Claire, and Emmanuel came up with the idea for the company during their summer holidays a few years ago and launched Eco Kiddies with the goal of supporting children dealing with health issues. 

For February’s mates of the month feature, we caught up with the team to find out more about what it’s like to run a company alongside going to school!

Hi Eco Kiddies! It's great to have your lovely organic cotton socks stocked in our shop - can you tell us more about the story behind the brand and why you set it up?

Eco Kiddies is a planet-friendly online shop that makes organic cotton socks for kids and young adults that doesn't hurt our Earth. Organic cotton doesn't need loads of chemicals to make it soft unlike polyester which has microplastic materials that when it goes into the ocean and seas, is harmful to the aquatic creatures, when it gets back in the soil it's not degradable. Most clothes are made of stuff that stays in the bin forever. Eco Kiddies want to make things that are "durable, soft and good for our Earth and kind to our skin."

Kind to your skin: No itchy bits or scratchy chemicals (skin reactions).

Kind to the Earth: The use of stuff that disappears naturally instead of turning into mountain-sized piles of rubbish.

Kind to animals: Since they use plants, they aren't messing up animal homes and no cruelty.

We also donate 50% of our profit to children's healthcare charities so poorly children can still have smiles on their faces and a way of saying thank you for the charities working for the health of children.

How do you source and design the socks?

Our socks are 100% organic cotton and come from a GOTS certified company in Turkey, which is good for kids with eczema and skin reactions or itchy feet and is great for going in the washing machine and on the bonus side it never loses its colour or prestigious looks along with the softness. This is the reason we chose organic cotton.

What is your favourite part about running the business?

We would say our favourite part about running the business is the experience and the money we earn because when we see money in our hands because of something we did well in selling pairs of socks, we try to replicate it next time.

We also like the smiles we see on the children's faces when we hand them a pair of socks in the hospital.

How has Eco Kiddies evolved since you began and what have you learned along the way?

Ever since we began Eco Kiddies we feel we've changed in our business strategies and our learning and understanding in business economics have grown and our marketing strategies have grown, we have also noticed that business isn't only about the money but the experience.

What would you say has been your biggest moment so far?

Our biggest moment so far is probably when we won Judges' Choice at the young business showcase with a £20 prize along with it. We were all so happy when the judges came to us to give us our certificate and money. That is what encouraged us to try even harder. Judges Choice is the overall judges favourite with the stand, story and how we attracted customers. 

Another one of our really big moments was when we made our first wholesale with a reputable brand, even when the message popped up in our email we were all so excited.

And finally, what are your plans for the future?

Our plans for the future is to have more wholesales and moments like these as well as to connect with other brands and charities. Soon we want to grow our business to sell adult sized socks and have an on site shop as well as workers who are working under kids!

You can shop Eco Kiddies organic cotton socks here

For more of our favourite sustainable brands, check out these blogs:

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