These days, the presence of muslin swaddling blankets on baby registries and on the shelves of pastel-hued baby boutiques is just about ubiquitous. However, though muslin—with its lightweight cotton weave, unique breathability, and tendency to soften with every wash—seems like a no-brainer for swaddling, there was a time when the versatile blankets were simply not available. Just ask Raegan Moya-Jones, a Brooklyn-by-way-of-Australia mom-of-four and co-founder and CEO of aden + anais, the brand largely credited with bringing the muslin swaddler concept from Down Under to the shores of the States.
“It all started when I had my first daughter, Anais [in 2003]. I went looking for these muslin blankets that were very common back home in Australia, but couldn’t find them anywhere,” Moya-Jones, who came to the US with her now-husband back in 1996, explains. “I thought: ‘Every Aussie can’t have this wrong!’ So I went about trying to find how I could have them made and that took a long time. I had Anais in 2003, and it took me until 2006 to actually work out how to manufacture them.”
The process of bringing aden + anais from Moya-Jones’ hope of filling a niche in the American baby gear market to the full-fledged success it is today—according to Moya-Jones, aden + anais’ blankets appear on 98 percent of baby registries at major maternity and baby stores—wasn’t an easy one. In fact, it required Moya-Jones (who had a background in pharmaceuticals before moving to the States and eventually working in sales at The Economist) to run her fledgling business almost entirely by night as she got things up and running.
“I was at The Economist for 10 years and I stayed there for three years after I first started aden + anais…and I had three daughters then. I would wake up, go to my ‘real job’ at The Economist, get home at 6:30pm, then from 6:30-8:30pm I would be with my girls [now ages 11, 9, 7, and 5], and from about 8:30pm to 3:30am I would run aden + anais,” she explains. “I [got] about three and a half hours of sleep every day for about three years… And when I got the business to $1 million in revenue, I resigned from The Economist.”
Moya-Jones’ hard work and ability to power through the sleep deprivation paid off. The aden + anais brand rose to popularity quickly thanks to her instincts about muslin. Her DUMBO-based company (her family also resides in the neighborhood) recently launched their very first muslin layette line for babies 0-12 months. In the spirit of their popular blankets and bibs, the layette line will include a selection of indispensable basics—think ultra-soft rompers, onesies, and bloomers—designed in a range of sweet, timeless prints. And while the layette line has taken years to perfect, it’s finding success by drawing from many of the understated—yet still eye-catching—motifs that made the swaddling blankets a must-have.
“When I started the company, I just designed what I like—I used bright reds and fuchsia pinks because that’s what I wanted for my family,” Moya-Jones says. “It’s actually the basics [that have been most popular]… It’s really the core, staple pieces that people have responded to the most.”
Next on the horizon for Moya-Jones and her company is a second round of layette pieces, as well as a relaunch of aden + anais’ skincare products (formerly sold under the name mum + bub). “Now we’re working on layette 2.0, which is going to expand the range and go to bigger sizes because the response from this launch has just been extraordinary,” Moya-Jones says. “We’re also branching out into lots of other areas too—including nursing pillows.”
As Moya-Jones sets her sights on even further expansion and evolution for aden + anais, there is one factor—on top of the brand’s superior quality—that remains consistent: She keeps a practical parenting sensibility top of mind in all she does. “The reason aden + anais has been as successful as it has been is because it’s very authentically run by a mother—me—so every decision I make for the business comes from the position of me being a mum, rather than as a businessperson,” she says proudly. “The fact that I’m a mum and I have these four little girls, it’s pretty much shaped everything that I’ve done with the business.”
To Learn more about aden + anais, visit adenandanais.com!
