An Interview with Panda & Ping – the fun new kids nightwear & bedding brand

A couple of weekends ago, we were kindly invited along to the photo shoot of a fun new kids pyjamas and bed linens brand.

And what’s more, my beautiful girls were asked to help out and model the new lines too.  To say they were excited was a bit of an understatement.

Launched only on Saturday, the fabulous new brand is jam packed full of bright, fun and cute characters on cosy pyjamas and snuggly blankets which you and your little ones will just fall in love with.

I thought it would be nice if we got the lowdown though from Pippa, the fantastic woman behind Panda & Ping.  Here is her story behind the brand….

Explain to us a little about you and your lovely new brand, Panda & Ping

Hello, so I’m Pippa (*cough* 30 something) Mother of 2, Wife to 1! We live in West Berkshire. We moved here just over 4yrs from London. Before that I lived in Edinburgh.

Panda & Ping quite simply makes really good quality pyjamas and bedlinen for children. We have a collection of 3 designs. Florence Flamingo and Tom Toucan. Gerry Giraffe (with his umbrella) and our sweet Elephants, Edie & Elle. Which are fun and vibrant. Sure to brighten any bedroom. We aim to capture your child’s imagination, but also to have products, which will wash and last.

We use super soft 100% cotton interlock jersey fabric, which is OEKO-TEX® certified. All our fabric is ecologically sourced from British manufacturers. Our fabric is Phalite free, so no harmful dyes are used at any stage in the production.

Everything is designed, printed and made in Britain. Something which we are hugely proud of.

What’s in this season’s Panda & Ping collection?

As this is our first collection, we’ve stuck to 3 products.

• Pyjamas 2-5yrs.

Each of the pj’s have brightly coloured cuffs to keep small ankles and wrists cosy even if the duvet has been kicked off. The cuffs can also be turned up if too long so you‘re guaranteed to get plenty of wear out of them.

• Full sized single duvet sets.

The reverse is milk white with yellow spots. Which looks great.

• And our Jumbo blanket, which is HUGE at 140cm x 100cm.

It’s double thickness 100% cotton interlock jersey fabric, so great for nap times. It also makes a pretty ace den however my children love it as a super hero cape!

 

What was your inspiration for the new brand?

In 2010, we had sold our flat in London and rented for a year whist trying to find a new home. I was pregnant and trying to ‘dress’ a nursery, everything was either pink, blue or yellow, no middle ground and I found this very frustrating.

So I’ve been sitting on this for quite some time. And I’ve finally done something about it.

How did you turn your idea into a working business?

Well it’s taken about 2 years (though I did have another baby so that stopped things for a while)

The first thing I did was to set about finding a British manufacturer and printers. I spent about 3 months researching manufacturing in the UK. In fact we didn’t start doing any designs until we’d found a factory.

How important was it for you to have everything Made In Britain?

Very early on we know we wanted to have everything produced in Britain. It was hugely important that we supported British manufacturing and all the people who work in it. But, being a busy mum I also wanted to be home in time to put my children to bed!

We are very lucky to have a fabulous bunch of people who have enabled Panda & Ping to become a finished product.

Were there any stumbling blocks along the way?

Oh yes, lots. The stand out one was quite early on; I made an appointment to visit the factory we use. I drove 3 hours north and within 5 minutes they had taken 4 months worth of design work and ripped it apart. I was gutted. So I had to go away and start again. But it was a really useful experience.

Was it tough trying to juggle the new business with your family/home/working life?

Starting Panda & Ping up and doing all the initial ground work was hard going. But now we’re up and running it’s much easier. Though at times it’s been almost impossible. However, the positives far out way the negatives. No word of a lie, it’s been very hard work. I’ve spent a large amount of my evenings working and calling in some very BIG favours. Luckily everyone has been really supportive.

We’ve had a spell of sickness which wasn’t fun. Children both off school and nursery (never at the same time, as that would be far too convenient) so I effectively lost a full week, and then I was ill. Typical! Thank goodness for iPhones and Wi-Fi.

What do your children think of their new business mummy?

My daughter think it’s ‘brilliant, and the animals look really happy’

As he’s only 1, my son doesn’t know any different, but he likes Gerry!

Do you have any hints and tips for others who want to turn their ideas into businesses?

Research, research and then more research!

What’s next from Panda & Ping.

We have a baby range coming out for Spring Summer ’16, two new designs to add to our collection and we are going to the children’s trade show, Bubble London in January ‘16.

We are very excited about the future… we have lots planned.

Where can we buy your beautiful products?

Online via Panda & Ping www.pandaping.com

So there we go. A huge thank you to Pippa for taking some time out of her busy schedule to answer these questions.  I for one am really looking forward to keeping an eye on this brand in the future, and am already planning my first purchase, just in time for the girls’ Christmas Eve boxes perhaps!

But, what’s more, Panda & Ping have a special discount code running until Monday 9th November for my readers too.  Please quote ‘Midlife10‘ to get 10% off all orders from today!

And for a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the photo shoot – keep your eyes peeled for a post later this week. Spoiler alert: Let’s just say Ella didn’t fancy her starring role after all!

Happy shopping!