Luxury online retailer, Gilt Groupe, is a guilty pleasure for hordes of savvy shoppers who frequent their internet sample sales of luxury brands and services. Gilt Groupe continues to expand, with the launch of Little Gilt, its own private label of high-quality apparel and bedding for babies and kids. Today, the site will kickoff its first sale of items from the Little Gilt collection. Melissa Keswin, Senior Buyer at Gilt Groupe’s Baby & Kids division fills us in.
After five years of providing online sample sales of luxury brands and services on your website, what inspired Gilt Groupe to launch Little Gilt?
We saw a need for a high quality baby product with an affordable price, and that was really our inspiration for launching the brand. We know our customers are looking for baby essentials on a daily basis–whether it’s a gift for a friend or something for their own baby. We wanted to be able to serve as a resource for that need. You will still see the brand names you know and love on Gilt regularly–but Little Gilt gives us the opportunity to ensure we have baby offerings daily.
How does Little Gilt stand apart from other brands available on your site?
We stand by all of the brands sold on Gilt. We only offer our members products that we believe in and would purchase ourselves, and Little Gilt is no exception. It was designed to meet the needs of our customer, who we know very well. Little Gilt will fit in seamlessly with the other high quality brands we feature.
What types of items will be included in the Little Gilt line? What are some fall trends that you’re incorporating into the line?
Our first sale on September 17 features 17 styles of baby apparel including onesies and footies to 2 piece sets. We chose some deeper shades of pinks, blues, and grays to transition into fall but that could also be used year round. For us it was really about the quality of the fabric.
As mothers of very young children, how do the experiences of your founders, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank, impact the development of the Little Gilt line?
I myself have a 3-year-old, as does our GM Rachel Jarrett. So along with Alexis and Alexandra, the Gilt team is well versed in the needs of busy moms with young kids. We bounce ideas off of each other and we certainly shared our designs with other moms in the office, and we were thrilled that they loved it as much as we do. Now we can’t wait to see the reaction from our customers!
Do you foresee expanding the line beyond babies’ apparel to include items for older kids?
Yes! You can expect to see more from Little Gilt in a few months! Later this year we will also role out styles for older children.
For more information, and to shop the sale, visit gilt.com/littlegilt.
