One Jackson Launches with VC Backing

One Jackson, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based children’s clothing company, has launched with backing from venture capital firms including Accel, Trinity, Floodgate and Next View. The startup aims to utilize crowdsourcing to promote independent designers of children’s clothes.

 

PRESS RELEASE

Fashion-forward parents and kids rejoice – One Jackson, the first children’s clothing company blending crowd-sourced independent designers and participatory e-commerce, officially launches today. The company aims to bring on-trend and adorable indie fashion, at affordable prices, to the kids market by giving designers and fans a voice in what gets produced.

 

The team is headed by former eBay and Gymboree exec Anne Raimondi, brand-builders and entrepreneurs Gia Russo and Michele Adams, and tech startup veteran Yee Lee. One Jackson researches trends and creates inspiration boards for 8 to 10 collections per year, and calls for submissions. Aspiring designers then submit sketches according to the design brief, after which a curated selection is put online for fans to vote on. Based on this feedback, the team puts together a cohesive line of clothing, featuring several different winning designers.

 

“One Jackson is smart in so many ways,” said co-founder and CEO Anne Raimondi. “We give emerging designers a platform and the capital to get their designs made, we cut down on waste by only creating the items demanded by our customers, and best of all we are making beautifully finished clothes that any child – and their moms – will be excited about putting on in the morning.”

 

One Jackson clothing is manufactured in the US, Peru and Asia using fine Peruvian Pima cotton and is being produced by some of the same factories that manufacture leading contemporary lines such as Tory Burch, Vince and Theory. Prices range from $16 to $42 and styles come in children’s sizes 2 through 6.

 

Winning a One Jackson design challenge is rewarding for the designers as well. In addition to exposure to One Jackson’s 300,000+ member audience and a cash prize, winning designers receive 3% of sales for their item. Designers get a landing page on the site and share their inspiration via story cards tucked inside each shipment.

 

One Jackson was incubated at online kids consignment service thredUP and is funded by a group of Silicon Valley and East Coast venture capital firms including Accel, Trinity, Floodgate and Next View. The company is launching with two fall lines for boys, and will roll out girls’ fashions beginning with Holiday 2012. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with a design and production studio in Los Angeles.

 

ABOUT ONE JACKSON

 

One Jackson is a new kind of e-commerce company, dedicated to providing high quality, fresh design for kids’ fashion, at affordable prices. Utilizing the power of the internet, One Jackson’s designs are sourced from independent designers around the country, and voted on by fans to determine which designs get made. Products feature higher-end, rich fabrics and finishes comparable to the better contemporary market.