A Daughter’s Creativity Fuels Her Mother’s Passion

Clothing designer Heather Kline-Smith took her inspiration from her daughter Sophia’s art work. Staff Photo by Ted Reckas For one family at least, the early blooming artistic talent of a toddler nurtured the late-blooming sartorial talents of her mother, a combination that sprouted a new children’s clothing line.

At the age of 46, Laguna Beach resident Heather Kline-Smith discovered her bliss designing a line of children’s clothing inspired by her five-year-old daughter Sofia.

“I finally found out what I’m supposed to be doing, and it took having a daughter to get there,” said Kline-Smith, who previously supervised payroll for her husband’s small marketing firm.

She’s now struck out on her own and recently started selling her Tart Toddler Art line of clothing items, ranging from long-sleeved thermal tees to palazzo pants to coats all embellished with graphic images that were lifted directly from canvases Sofia painted in her first years.

Clothing designer Heather Kline-Smith took her inspiration from her daughter Sophia’s art work. Local resident and filmmaker Christine Fugate, and author of this paper’s “Mothering Heights” column, was unsurprised to learn of a mother’s creativity being inspired by her daughter. “I consider my children muses,” she admitted. “They definitely inspire a lot of my writing ideas and they’ve influenced my filmmaking, too.”

When Sofia was two, Kline- Smith got her an easel so they could paint together. At the age of three, she was painting Christmas gifts for her family on four- by six-inch canvases. “Every single one of them, and there about eight, were different and they were all abstract art,” said Kline- Smith, who was told abstract art was uncommon for a toddler.

Asked what she was thinking when she painted, Sofia responded simply, “I’m just using my imagination.” Kline-Smith began to realize her daughter might be an early bloomer.

Maybe it was catching. While Sofia filled small canvases with abstract images, her mother said her head kept filling with the word “tart.” She was perplexed by its insistence, until suddenly the words “toddler art” came to mind and it all became clear. She would design a line of clothing for Sofia.

Along the way, she encountered snags, such as trying three unreliable printers before finding one that faithfully transferred Sofia’s images to fabric and met deadlines. She turned to a “sample guy” who turns designs into working prototypes. This week she met with a Los Angeles garment maker to supply a limited run of her fall line that she hopes to sell to retailers.

She’s already late in the fallseason ordering cycle, so Kline- Smith’s expectations are low. “I’ll be thankful for any orders I get for fall and winter just to jump start the line,” she said.

Fortunately, a propitious trip back to her hometown of Petoskey, Mich., last month got her started. She took the just-completed samples to the Circus Shop, a local boutique where her mother had worked years before. The store’s owner, Lynn Duse, was so taken with the toddler apparel that she cleared window space for it on the spot. Besides the Circus Shop, this fall two other Petoskey boutiques, Bondurant and Bahnhof Ski Shop, will offer the designer togs for tots.

Serendipitously, an owner of Cute Baby Shoes, a Michiganbased company that sells baby shoes similar to the widely known Robeez brand, visited the Circus Shop and noticed the Tart line. Angela Blake and Kline-Smith immediately saw the synergy of Tart designs on the little shoes and started planning. Tart-design footwear in small boutiques could quite literally be Kline-Smith’s foot in the door for the rest of her line.

But in the meantime, she’s hitting the pavement to introduce her line to children’s boutiques locally and around southern California. She was one of three designers chosen for a March 6 fashion show fundraiser for autism held in Hollywood, where the response was encouraging.

It helps that Kline-Smith’s enthusiasm for her line is contagious. Who knew a reversible vest jacket with a skeleton motif and a zippered compartment on the back was a must have? While designed for an 8-year-old boy, in fact I coveted one and almost everything else she lovingly showed me.

And while the Tart line stacks up against myriad competitors, owners of small retailers such downtown’s Bohemian Kids appreciate hands-on designers.

Bohemian Kid’s owner Amy Schenk receives 10 to 20 phone calls a day from designers and distributors hoping to sell her their wares. She prefers to meet potential suppliers face to face, both to see the product and gauge the person selling it. She also prefers buying from smaller designers that are typically more attentive to detail, quality and attending to problems when they arise.

Her fall inventory is already purchased, however. Still, having tried her hand as a designer, Schenk often proposes that designers sell their line on consignment: their clothing receives shelf space, but receive payment only when customers make a purchase.

For Kline-Smith, a Tart sale is more than money in her pocket. Each clothing purchase also comes with a canvas and brush and instructions on how to enter a design contest. “I’ve always felt that art is such a great way for little ones to express themselves,” she said.

And adults, too.