Edgy, vintage, and quirky, are three words people don’t usually associate with baby apparel. But AJ and Audrey Dimarucot’s baby clothing line, googoo&gaga, carries infant garb with the most unexpected designs such as electric guitars, winged skeletons, and electro shades.

What is maybe more surprising than finding the opposite of “traditionally cute” designs in their pieces is the fact that most of their inventory have almost  been sold out.

Parents from differing generations are eagerly waiting when the couple will release new designs. Who knew that baby onesies with a vintage feel and a turntable design can compete with generic cartoon designs of princesses, and doe-eyed animals? 

Owners AJ and Audrey had always wanted what most young couples dream of: to be financially stable and to be hands-on in raising their child 8-year-old child, Gabe. Knowing that this set-up is idyllic but likely impossible with both holding demanding jobs, they decided to take the plunge of going the entrepreneurial route.

In February 2008, AJ left his job as an Art Director. In October of the same year, Audrey followed suit by quitting her job as a Project Manager for a major telecommunications company. in. 

“We were trying to have another baby when all this was happening,” relates Audrey. “In one of our conversations, we said we wanted to have our children wear AJ’s designs. That’s when the idea came about, and it became our inspiration to put up a children’s clothing business.  It wasn’t hard to bring it from the drawing board to realization,” continues Audrey. By December 2008, the couple was able to introduce googoo&gaga in the Rockwell Urban Bazaar.

A Pinch of Madness

The couple wanted a name for their baby clothing line to be easy to recall yet will reflect their personalities. The name ‘googoo&gaga’ seemed to fit the bill.  “AJ is bold, quirky--every inch an artist. Meanwhile, I am traditional, always proper. We like to tell people I’m the googoo (in baby talk, it could mean love) and he’s the gaga (which could mean crazy or mad),” Audrey explains. 

The couple likes to point out that “each limited edition piece is created with a dose of love, a pinch of madness, and sports a full-color, super-soft, all over sublimation printing. Googoo&gaga is for kooky babies!”.  AJ’s penchant for bombarding his projects with  color and texture, nature and urban life themes, art and visual culture, and street and tattoo art are reflected in the apparel’s designs. “For googoo&gaga, he is inspired by different themes because we have to design for both little boys and girls. These range from love, music, nature, peace, urban life, and art,” explains Audrey.

No two designs in the collection are alike even though it may seem so.  Using sublimation printing technology–a printing technique which creates a unique piece due to certain irregularities in every print out--gives each piece a character and charm of its own instead of being a “flaw”.

The right mix

"We spent less than 1M to put up the business, register the company, file for our trademark, and support our first production," narrates Audrey. Having only been in the market for six months and with the enthusiastic response that they have been receiving from their clients, they expect to recover their investment soon. "We are carefully expanding our product line based on clamor. This will most likely help the business side of googoo&gaga," she continues.

Their past occupations help the couple keep the business go smoothly:AJ designs the apparel and looks into local and offshore supplier options; whileAudrey's experience in project management facilitates her having a good relationship with suppliers and getting people to deliver on time. "Our supplier is very easy to talk to but also has a ton of other clients who require the same kind of attention we do. Timelines are sometimes hard to pin down. And for a growing brand like us where demand is high, we always have to keep pushing for production to be finished on specified timelines," she points out.

True, the unique presentation of their designs comes with a certain price tag. "We’d like to believe we are pioneering sublimation printing in baby and kids’ clothes here. There aren’t a lot of sublimation printers in the country, especially those who can print on our sizes. We can count them in one hand,” Audrey says. The cost, according to her, is more than twice the normal silkscreen rate. Hence, the challenge in their business lies in the production cost and the scarcity of suppliers.,

The many suggestions they have received from clients and the demand for their products are rallying the couple around to push on with future plans to distribute in Canada and several parts of Southeast Asia soon.

Contact details:

Website: www.googooandgaga.com

Email: audrey@googooandgaga.com