In an age where everything is mass-produced, Brooklyn-based Hiho Batik is a refreshing change offering unique, handmade clothing, accessories, and more. Using the art of Batik to illustrate original designs, each piece is guaranteed to be one-of-a-kind. Kids and adults alike can also enjoy dyeing their own wearable artworks in the Make-Your-Own space situated in family-friendly Park Slope.
We had the opportunity to speak with Hiho Batik owners (and local moms) Robyn Stylman and Julia Silver Gordon (who originally founded the business and brought it to Brooklyn) to ask them about the art of Batik, the story behind their store, and their own take on raising kids in NYC.
Tell us about the art of Batik and where it comes from.
Julia: Batik is a very ancient art form, and I think the definition is “using wax and dyes to create an image.” There are so many different types of ways to Batik, so that’s a very big definition of it; one person who does Batik might not do it the same as the next. Depending on where you look, it’s been found in Asia, found in Africa…it really dates back to all these parts of the world, because I think the tools you use for it are so basic.
How does Hiho Batik use the ancient art in a modern way?
Robyn: You come in and pick what you want to make. Everything starts out as white, and our staff is here to lead you through the design process. You could either do your own design or pick from one of our stencils. Then you do your design work, go up to our wax bar (depending on the age, either you’re waxing or we are doing the wax for you), and then you sit and paint them in with our dyes. You leave the item with us, we finish the process, and about a week later it’s ready for you.
How did you two come to open up a store revolving around Batik?
Robyn: Julia is an artist. She’s been practicing the art of Batik for over 20 years, so it’s just something she’s been doing for a long time. We love the way it looks in the way that we’ve made it sort of more modern. It’s just translated well to an activity that other people enjoy doing. I don’t think there was a guarantee that that would be the case. The other thing is it’s a very slow process. I think so many things are so fast these days—people are living so fast and electronics are often fast-paced—and so, this is a slow, relaxing process that sort of works with all the ages.
Julia: There’s something very authentic about the hand-made process of it. Things are so mass-produced now; you can never get one-of-a-kind pieces. Here, when you are buying something from us you are getting a one-of-a-kind piece. Each one is actually different, and we’re making these ourselves.
Tell us about your professional backgrounds. How did you two meet and go into business together?
Julia: My background is basically this. I started doing this when I was in college as kind of just like a side job. And over the years I kept at it, having different variations of bulk orders for the music business, then moving into the children’s industry wholesale, and about 10 years ago, having this idea of wanting to do this kind of space because it felt weird having me be at the studio alone, making this and selling it. I thought it would be a really cool thing to be able to share it with other people. I started a mini-version of this in Miami to see if this was something that would work and it did!
Robyn: I’d always worked in sort of community-based jobs, so everything from the publishing industry to magazines to social media sites, and then I ran an education non-profit. I had very much wanted to open up a creative space in Park Slope, and at the same time, sort of serendipitously, Julia and I were connected through a mutual friend. I had been a fan of the brand because I was actually given one of the products as a gift for my first son. And so the timing just worked out really well, that I was at a time when I really wanted to have a physical space where people could come in and be creative, and Julia was at a time when she definitely was ready to take this concept she had and figure out how to build it into an actual full-blown business. So we opened this September 2012 and we’re coming up on our two year anniversary. It’s just taken on a life of its own, where it’s evolved into this amazing space where we have both a retail shop and the Make-Your-Own space.
Tell us about your own kids. Do they enjoy Batik as well?
Julia: I have a son and a daughter: Eli is 8 and Sadie is 5. Out of default they like it. No, of course they love it. I mean, the thing that has over the years been the strongest selling point of the clothing line is that kids really do enjoy wearing it; it’s not something that you have to force them into. They identify with the colors, they identify with the prints… I still like to see my kids in it. It hasn’t gotten old for me even though Eli is 8 now, and he’s still wearing tons of it.
Robyn: I think it’s cool for all of our kids when they see a Make-Your-Own on a kid. They recognize it since it’s such an identifiable look. I have three sons: a 6-year-old, his name is Bodhi, and 4-year-old twin boys, Theo and Miles. They wear Hiho—we actually have a rule in our house that not everyone can be in Hiho all at once or else we look like a walking advertisement. Sometimes we even ask them: “Would you wear this one?” It’s cool to be in an industry where you also have your family so involved so that you can get real-time feedback.
Why did you feel that Park Slope would be a good location for your store?
Robyn: Well I had been living in Park Slope for years. Julia moved from Florida with her family here when we decided to partner. And you know, I was a new mom with lots of little kids and just was always looking for activities and fun things to do, looking for creative spaces that I would want to be in, and that were pleasing to the eye. Park Slope had some, but I didn’t feel like they had enough. What worked out nicely was, Julia lives about 5-6 blocks one way, I live a few block the other way, and so this was just a really good location. So between the accessibility, how many people here have kids and families, and how many adults just live here as well… you know, we really wanted to be a neighborhood store. It’s amazing because now we walk around and people recognize us and we recognize them; it’s very much a community feel, which is what we were going for.
Does the store name, “Hiho Batik,” have any special meaning?
Julia: My maiden name was Silver, so it’s like “Hi Ho Silver!” But it’s kind of evolved over the years into just a cool-sounding name. No great, deep meaning behind it.
Where do your design ideas and inspiration come from?
Robyn: I would say our design process is this: We identify a concept we want to go with a collection. Julia goes back and works with our team, with her deftly leading the effort, in figuring out which specific designs feed into that. We try to be a little silly and whimsical and off-the-cuff with what we’re putting in. When the design is sketched out, Julia has an amazing eye for color, so she really fine tunes everything. We’re a little different from a typical retail brand because most brands have a Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter—these big collections they put out. We all year long are rolling things out. It’s sort of more real-time production, which we think is really fun.
What additional services does Hiho offer? Tell us about your party options and classes.
Robyn: With the Make-Your-Own space, you can either walk in as an individual or you could reserve the room as a group. We do everything from birthday parties to baby showers to team-building events to bachelorette parties. You know, a lot of people automatically think this space is just for kids’ birthdays, but it really can be so much more. We also do a lot of workshops, so we love to partner with other organizations to bring workshops here or we offer them on our own. Another service we offer is that you can send us your artwork if you’re not on site, and we can batik it for you. Over Father’s Day especially, we had a lot of submissions to make stuff as gifts.
What are some of Hiho’s most-loved and popular items?
Julia: We have classic designs, which are definitely classics for a reason. They never go out of style. The Dino Bones is one of them, the Gumball Machine, the 9 Hearts, Cupcake, POW, DJ World… These are designs that over the years, people keep asking for. What we do to keep them fresh is we change the colors or expand the colors they’re offered on.
What’s new for Fall 2014? Are there any products you would like to release in the future?
Julia: Because we make everything here on site, we can react very easily to the seasons, and we’re constantly putting out new items. For fall, we have lounge pants, which we think are super cute, fun, and comfy. We have French terry jerseys, which are a nice transition from summer to fall, because they’re lightweight. And we have our New York Collection—this fall is going to be a big New York Collection. We do mostly size infant to size 12, but we are expanding. We’re going to be doing a very small women’s lounge section. We’re still testing and developing it, but it’s you know, cute comfy pants in different prints. It’s in response to a lot of requests we’ve gotten.
Robyn: We do pillows, and we’re thinking of getting more into pillows in lots of different ways, like throw pillow. We’ve been trying out maybe some duvet covers or throw blankets, things like that. It’s not for fall since we just started that conversation, so it’s more to-be-determined.
Are you thinking of expanding Hiho in the future, or opening another store?
Robyn: We always think about it. It’s just a matter of timing and finding the right place. But we would love to see other Hiho Batiks sprinkled throughout.
To learn more about Hiho Batik, and to shop their collections, visit hihobatik.com!
