To most 4 year olds getting dressed by themselves is an achievement worthy of an Angel Delight. But J Crew have signed on a 4-year-old to help them with their Spring Summer collection.
Mayhem is the Tavi of the toddler world. She has her own blog Fashion By Mayhem (run with her parents help, of course). Last awards season her take of Oscars dresses on Instagram went viral, catching the attention of J Crew's Jenna Lyons.
Jenna has given her a nine-piece collection of kids' clothing called 'Little Mayhem with J. Crew.' In a blog post her mother explains how the collaboration with J Crew came about: "The first Fashion By Mayhem email I ever marked as important started off simply “Hi – This is Jenna Lyons. From J.Crew." "Jenna then wrote that she was reaching out to see if we’d be interested in doing a small collection designed by … yes – a 4 year old!! Game. Changer.
She said of their day with J Crew in New York: "Mayhem and her new crew all sat down on the floor and played. And made stuff. Out of paper and tape and beads and glue and crayons. And they laughed and hugged and had more fun than I would have imagined. And then they sprinkled their magic J.Crew fairydust on it and turned paper into fabric. And when it was time to go, Mayhem cried. Because she didn’t want to leave."
Jenny Cooper, the head of design for Crewcuts, said to Forbes of the collection: "When we met with Mayhem for the first time we were really curious to see how she would work and were amazed to watch this barely four-year-old girl start meticulously folding the pleats on a skirt and placing stones very specifically and carefully on a top she had just fashioned around herself. She has such an inventive and creative personality that really resonated with us."