Papate

Organic Baby Essentials, Made in France by Three Fathers. Whose Logo Is a Rabbit Skull. We Will Explain.

Papate was started by three French fathers who wanted only organic things for their children and discovered that, while organic food had become perfectly ordinary, organic baby textiles had not. So they made their own. The name comes from one of the founders' sons, whose early attempt at "papa" came out as "papate", which is surely the best possible way to name a company. The logo, a rabbit skull with carrots for crossbones, was chosen by visitors at trade fairs, and we think they chose well.

Everything is made from GOTS certified organic cotton, and Papate is refreshingly open about where it comes from: Turkey, because nobody grows organic cotton in France, and the brand would rather say so than pretend otherwise. The sewing happens in France, in workshops in Cambrai, Marseille and Brittany, including a sheltered workshop near Auray that provides skilled employment for people with disabilities.

The range covers the essentials and very little else. Three-season sleeping bags in double cotton gauze, bodies, t-shirts and sweatshirts, swaddles, bibs, and organic cotton teething rings with beech wood. The designs are unisex and timeless, and mostly white, which sounds brave until you learn it is so everything can be washed hot, often, and without fading, then handed down to the next baby. The house mascot is the Alaska bath cape, a large hooded towel with rabbit ears that fits from birth to about five, and turns bath time into something considerably more dignified for all concerned.

See more in our kids' clothing, kids' sleepwear and baby bath and skincare collections, or start from bump to baby. Papate also sits among our European brands, ethical and sustainable brands, and the bath cape is very hard to beat as a present from our gifts for baby and kids.