Meet Emily Khasidy: Founder of The Collective Child
BWB sat down with Emily Khasidy, co-founder of Collective Child – a monthly subscription service that delivers quality childrenswear to busy mothers. Emily worked for many years at Paris Vogue before launching her own company. We spoke with her about her business and her beauty secrets!
BWB sat down with Emily Khasidy, co-founder of Collective Child – a monthly subscription service that delivers quality childrenswear to busy mothers. Emily worked for many years at Paris Vogue before launching her own company. We spoke with her about her business and her beauty secrets!
Inspiration for your company…
Prior to starting The Collective Child, my career encompassed six very exciting years with Vogue Paris in their New York division, focusing on the editorial side of the publication. In late 2014, I was 28 and just about to give birth to my first child – my son River. Becoming a new mother, having a very specific need for stylish children’s apparel, and honing a specific style and branding sense at Vogue led to this very unique AH-HA moment. Nothing on the market at the time seemed to talk to the modern metropolitan parent. Luxury brands were scattered throughout the world and confined to their own e-commerce sites or shops. The retailers that were selling luxury children’s apparel just appeared to be missing the mark style-wise. There was a very clear need for a fresh, modern perspective on dressing children.
Nothing on the market at the time seemed to talk to the modern metropolitan parent.
With this in mind, I called on my best friend, who is a buyer for Bloomingdale’s. She’s exceptionally smart and knowledgable when it comes to the retail industry, so it had to be her. Together, we set out to build it. Three years later, here we are, still serving a unique solution to a market of parents that just seems to be getting bigger by the day.
Inspiration behind direction of new collections…
Our brand assortment focus at The Collective Child is always specialty-based. We source brands from all over the world and each collection we carry needs to have a specialty– whether it’s a specialty fabric they are known to use, a design that you see from them season after season, or even a price point.
With that said, we do tend to lean towards a Parisian cool fall aesthetic mixed with a bohemian Spanish island summer aesthetic. Our pricing reflects luxury products and service.
Your personal beauty routine with your busy travel schedule…
When I’m home and not traveling, my routine is focused on replenishing. Mornings include dry brushing before showering, followed by Laura Mercier face polish and then Oribe shampoo and conditioner routine. If I’m traveling, I’d be lucky if I even fit a dry brush in my carry-on.
Regardless of travel or not, serums are my lifeline. Any given day, I have one or two that I carry around with me. In the morning I love using Trish McEvoy Beauty Booster serum or sometimes a Dr. Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Marine Hydration Booster. On a plane, I’ve been known to layer them after shamelessly relaxing in a sheet mask.
Being on the go daily means my hair is usually air-dried and treated with an ample amount of Ouai dry shampoo or Ouai texturizing hair spray.
Favorite fragrance…
It’s the Acqua di Colonia Angeli di Firenze from the Santa Maria Novella apothecary in Florence. Every summer I make sure to stop in on my buying trip and pick it up.
Who inspires you…
I’ve always been inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow– to cross the boundary from actress to businesswoman, leading the charge with a brand like Goop. I have so much respect for her and how passionate she is about what she’s building. She’s also been a role model when it comes to being unapologetic about the kind of product you are building for a specific market – which I love!
How do you balance work with family life…
Boundaries are hugely important to the success of both my family and my business. The first two years of my company, I literally tried to be everything for everyone all the time. I realized that I wasn’t giving any one thing the full attention it deserved. Now, evenings and weekends are entirely for me and my family. During the day or work hours, I’m exclusively dedicated to my company, business partner, and employees. When those lines get blurred, I make sure to do a little something to accommodate everyone. When my business partner and I travel to Europe for the summer, I always make sure to tack on a family trip so they can come too.
I literally tried to be everything for everyone all the time. I realized that I wasn’t giving any one thing the full attention it deserved.
Favorite ways of relaxation…
Leaving the city and getting away with my family. New York City is incredible, fast-paced and exciting, but it can get exhausting. A simple trip out to the Hamptons, over to LA or out to Utah– all of these were hugely relaxing trips this year. If I can’t leave the city, then I get a massage down at The Greenwich Hotel coupled with a much-needed session with my acupuncturist Paige Bourassa at Shen Medicine.
Recent memorable trip…
Amalfi Coast! It’s been an incredibly busy year, not just for myself running the business but also for my husband who has his own. This past July, on the tail end of a work trip in Florence, we both rendezvoused in Amalfi for a week of alone time to reconnect and just be together. No kids. No companies. Literally no worries. We stayed at Santa Caterina hotel, which was absolutely gorgeous, and took day trips out to Capri throughout the week. It was hard to come back after that trip.
Advice for our BWB readers on starting their own companies…
Just start doing it. Make a list of 10 or so things you would need to do to get it going and just start with one. It sounds so simple, but my business partner and I always see entrepreneurs or founders who stumble with starting their own companies because they feel they don’t have all the answers. The truth that we’ve learned is that you will never have all the answers. The key to success is just continually moving forward. After that, find yourself a mentor or peer who is two steps ahead of where you are now in your current business phase. Having someone who you can talk to and who has just recently been through many of the challenges you will soon face is invaluable.
On your nightstand…
LANEIGE everything! Both their Lip Sleeping Mask and Water Sleeping Mask. A Hydro Flask of ice cold water and finally, for when I don’t apply a moisturizer to my face, my Sleep Master Sleep mask. Terrible product name, but its a softly padded silk blindfold sleep mask. It lets no light in and lightly covers your ears. Not on my nightstand but under my bed is my all important Emfit QS. A super intelligent strip of technology that sits under my mattress and measures everything you could ever want to know about your sleep and recovery. I wake up and review the data first thing in the morning so I know exactly how my body is doing and likely, what kind of day I’m going to have based on the rest and recovery from the night before.
Katie von Strasser is a former ballerina with a background in fashion and art. She is a devoted advocate for people with disabilities. Katie has a passion for travel and all things beautiful.
She resides in San Francisco with her family. (Photo by Darryl Nitke)
Just start doing it. Make a list of 10 or so things you would need to do to get it going and just start with one.
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