Today we talk with the mastermind herself of the labels ANINE BING and BING KIDS. Anine has a feeling for style, and we always envy her looks! She has always been a very creative person she tells us. She has been a musician, she ran a blog, and for the past 6 years, she has been a designer and founder of a female-led, community-driven womenswear brand. She loves taking inspiration from around her and creating clothes that make women feel powerful. When she is not at work she is usually home with her family, spending quality time together, or traveling, or trying to catch up with friends. Today we talk to her about her brands and her kids Bianca and Benjamin!
Can you tell us something about the brand ANINE BING?
ANINE BING is for the woman with an on-the-go lifestyle. I created this company to give women a modern uniform that they can feel like their best selves in, ready to take on whatever they need to. I have always been inspired by finding classic pieces like a great pair of denim or the perfect leather jacket and putting my own touch to it. I’m obsessed with that effortless, classic style and that’s what our brand offers.
How did you come up with the idea of starting a kids’ line?
My daughter Bianca was always trying on my clothes and drawing designs that she thought I should add to our collection. She and my son Benjamin were the reason I started it and are still my biggest inspiration for the designs. I wanted to create a kids line that was similar to the ANINE BING brand, inspired by rock ‘n’ roll, and meant to be mixed and match for easy, cool outfits. Kids get dirty in five seconds so I wanted to make clothes that were super wearable and never too precious.
Where do you get your inspiration from for the collections?
For BING KIDS I am always inspired by Benjamin and Bianca, what they want to wear, and clothes that will work with all their activities. For ANINE BING I find inspiration all over LA. I love going to flea markets. I’m inspired by the art I see and the music I listen to. A lot of our collections have musician muses and I am honestly just as inspired by the real women who wear our clothes.
Why did you choose a unisex clothing line for the kids?
I have a boy and a girl and they often want to dress the same and as a mom on the go, having clothes they can both wear makes getting them dressed so much easier. All of the clothes in the line can be worn to play and create in—that was the most important thing to me when we created this collection. We created every piece so you can mix and match to make dressing your kids easy and fun and allow them to be themselves and feel cool while wearing the clothes.
What are your favorite items from the new BING KIDS collection?
I love the sleep sets because they are comfy enough to wear to bed or you can wear the top or bottoms with jeans and a jacket outside of the house. They make getting dressed easy and they are so cozy. I also love the leather jacket, it is so cool and goes over dresses or with sweatpants. It really is the perfect piece to add some rock ‘n’ roll to an outfit.
Is it difficult to combine entrepreneurship with motherhood?
I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t have it all figured out. Being a mom and having a company means that sometimes I just don’t have the time to do everything in one day. It’s a lot of work. I love being a mom and I love being a designer and I feel so lucky I get to do both every day, but sometimes that means sacrifice. It becomes a lifestyle, not just a job. I would love to be able to cook Bianca and Benjamin great dinners every night, but usually, we end up having to do take-out or something simple like pasta, but at least we do it together, that’s the first priority. I would love to be the mom who has healthy food prepared every night but I also know what’s realistic and how important it is to me to provide for my kids while achieving my dreams and working hard at my business to be a role model for them.