In the evolving world of social media, children’s and baby brands have seamlessly embraced change as an opportunity to connect with their audience. From trendy clothing lines to essential baby products, children’s clothing brands leverage social content to create engaging narratives and build a sense of community. Through charming video and static content, UGC and creator partnerships, children’s and baby brands navigate social media platforms to build brand awareness, drive e-commerce strategies and provide a valuable and trusted resource for parents and caregivers. These top brands often showcase whimsical patterns, sustainable practices, seasonal social media trends, and a blend of playfulness and sophistication. Every Instagram post from these top brands tells a story of comfort, creativity and endless smiles.
This article explores how Instagram’s top kid's clothing brands foster a space where fashion meets comfort for tiny fashionistas and mini trendsetters.
We analyzed children's brands across social media to identify Instagram’s top kid’s clothing brands. Despite Instagram being a newer platform for many children and baby brands, all but one brand outperformed the average engagement rate for children’s clothing brands.
Brands featured in this list outperformed industry averages found below. Findings are based on data from July 1, 2023-December 31, 2023.
Average Children’s Industry Performance:
Stella McCartney Kids is, of course, the kid's wear brand by Stella McCartney. McCartney is known for her commitment to sustainable and cruelty-free fashion, and her children’s line reflects these values while offering stylish and playful clothing for kids. On brand with the lively, colorful vibe of their Instagram feed, their top performing post (0.2% engagement rate) features bright, adorable, mismatching prints.
Cotton On Kids USA provides trendy and affordable clothing for children, catering to various age groups, from babies to tweens. Leveraging carousels on Instagram, like this top-performing post (0.8% engagement rate), their feed is a canvas for creativity and storytelling while encouraging user interaction.
Carter’s is one of the leading providers of baby and children's apparel. Well-known for bodysuits and sleepwear, consumers recognize Carter’s for their affordable and budget-friendly options and high-quality clothing that’s comfortable for babies and children. By leaning into creators and UGC, @carters has an impressive following of 2.8M on Instagram. They’re also driving e-commerce with LikeShop. This top-performing post (0.9% engagement rate) gives its audience a highly engaging and educational moment.
Guess Kids provides children with fashionable options. They carry the same fashion-forward designs and focus on stylish and on-trend clothing as the parent brand, Guess. Guess Kids is often associated with a more upscale and high-end take on children’s fashion. They often leverage Instagram Reels for growth and visibility. This top-performing post (0.6% engagement rate) is trendy, stylish, and on-brand for Guess Kids.
Abercrombie Kids is known for its casual, preppy and laid-back style. They often tap into viral trends and relatable moments shared by their parent company, Abercrombie & Fitch. Most recently, they launched a children’s version of the adult, camo-printed hoodie that went viral on Instagram, taking advantage of the popular and sold-out design for their younger demographic. This top-performing post (0.4% engagement rate) features everything you see trending on social media for the fall season — pumpkin spice lattes, elevated cozy style, viral Tasman UGGs and a matching with Mom moment.
Decjuba Kids, as the name suggests, is the kid's wear line within the Decjuba brand. Their popular styles often mirror the modern and fashion-forward aesthetic of the main Decjuba line, providing trendy options for children. This top-performing post (0.7% engagement rate) directs traffic to their link in bio solution, LikeShop, which is an effective way to capitalize on a sales opportunity by directing traffic from a highly engaging post on social media to a product available for purchase.
Gerber Childrenswear is a well-known brand in the parenting space. With a following of 208k on Instagram, the brand leverages entertaining reels, seasonal content, carousels and LikeShop in their bio for a well-rounded social media presence. This top-performing post (0.6% engagement rate) shares a highly relatable and entertaining moment for new parents.
ARKET Children, under the H&M Group, is known for its commitment to sustainability and clean and timeless design aesthetics. The brand often emphasizes organic and recycled materials and typically features simple yet stylish designs focusing on comfort. Their feed mimics brand values with posts highlighting unique designs and trendy prints, like this one (0.7% engagement rate).
Children’s clothing brands can use Dash Hudson to discover wins and unearth opportunities with competitive benchmarking, insights and reporting.
In Dash Hudson, Competitive Insights and Benchmarking offer valuable tools to gain insight into industry trends to enhance content, engage audiences and effectively stay competitive in the social media landscape. Social teams can benchmark their owned performance alongside industry and competitors to see how they stack up and fill any gaps in their content strategy. With Dash Hudson's Vision AI, teams can leverage meaningful insights and stay on top of social media trends. Easily track what the competition is doing on social and what’s happening in the industry.
Sustainable fashion continues to gain momentum in the children’s clothing industry as parents and caregivers prioritize ethical and environmentally conscious brand practices. Brands are moving towards gender-neutral designs that are not strictly categorized as ‘boys’ or ‘girls.’ The popular athleisure trend we’ve seen among adults extends to the youngest demographic, and no surprise, playful prints and bright colors are still in style for kid's wear. Matching family outfits, personalized clothing and DIY-inspired looks are also gaining popularity in the children’s clothing industry.
Marketing kid's wear involves creative strategies that interest parents, caregivers and children. Understanding your target audience is step one. Step two is to focus on the creative — children’s clothing marketing should rely heavily on high-quality visuals that tell a story. In step two, you should lean into brand values and what’s trending in the kid's wear space. Step three is to leverage social media platforms — showcase your product, build your brand awareness and community and focus on UGC and creator partnerships through social media. Once you’ve established steps one through three, your next steps should focus on evolving your brand’s online presence through:
In summary, effective kid's wear marketing builds a trusted connection between parent, caregiver or child while standing out from the competition.