Some gifts are clothes and some are introductions. The new capsule from Bonpoint manages to be both. The Parisian children’s house has worked with The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on an exclusive limited edition called An Impressionist Wardrobe, and the painting at its heart is one of the museum’s most celebrated: Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, painted between 1914 and 1926.
A painting you can wear
Monet painted the canvas in his later years, in his garden at Giverny, and it is all shifting light, vivid reflections and the dissolving line between what is real and what is abstract. Bonpoint’s argument is that this dreamlike world sits naturally beside its own, where elegance and craftsmanship have long been in the service of a child’s imagination. The collection takes the idea literally. The water lily print appears on a smocked dress, on a blouse, on T-shirts and sweatshirts; flowers return in intarsia on the cardigans and as embroidery and beads on a sweatshirt. The colours stay soft, lilac, green and blue on cream, with navy knitwear to hold them together.
The pieces
The capsule lists fifteen pieces, most of them in organic cotton. For girls from four to fourteen there are the Pétale blouse and the Duchesse dress, both smocked and embroidered by hand, the Suzon skirt, the Gracieuse and Thida T-shirts, the Talent sweatshirt with the water lily print, the Minet sweatshirt with flowers and beads and the Mahena cardigan with an intarsia flower. For babies from six months to three years there are the Maruska dress, also smocked and embroidered by hand, and the Mibou cardigan. Prices in the European shop run from 30 euros for the Miniclic hair clips to 365 euros for the Duchesse dress.
The gifts within the gift
Three objects make the capsule particularly good for presents: the Cerise dressed doll at 115 euros, the Aimane printed small suitcase at 145 euros and the Mily leather key ring at 85 euros. The suitcase pairs the water lily print with a cherry, and the Jovie headband at 55 euros is the easy addition for a younger sister. Bonpoint currently adds a sticker sheet to purchases and a watercolour kit to orders of 400 euros or more from the capsule, which is a fair nudge to paint a pond after the museum visit.
Why it works as a present
The best children’s gifts tend to open a door, and a museum is a good one. A dress printed with the water lilies is an excuse for the visit, the visit is an excuse to talk about the painter, and the conversation about a garden in Giverny may be what the child remembers. It helps that the pieces are made to be worn rather than framed: organic cotton for everyday, and hand smocking of the kind that makes a dress worth keeping for the next child in the family.
Limited means limited, so the decision is best made early. For other occasions and budgets, the Gift Finder sorts seventy-two ideas by age and price.
