NettoCollection Blog

High Noon

In the last two weeks, I sold my business and turned 40. Doesn’t that make you think of Herman Melville beards, tube socks and hanging out at the L stop at N.7^th and Bedford? So youthful, so lifelike...

If they were having a Walter Matthau lookalike contest at the L station, maybe I would go down there.

These events seem finally, irredeemably, adult. But take heart: I think, given the year we have all had—all of us, the whole country--it would be a good time for those of us who are able to step back and thank God we are all lucky enough to still be here in our chairs, with jobs and the chance to fight again tomorrow. There were many times and many dark nights since 2003 when I simply could not visualize how we were going to continue in business…but we did. It would make a highly entertaining book, or essay in a group of them about people who’ve started businesses and then can’t believe what they’ve gotten themselves into. But once you’re in a crouching position, you have no choice but to run.

I had always hoped that a company like Maclaren would be the one to buy us. I admired them even when I didn’t know anything about anything in Baby--and as significantly, I admired their SUCCESS. For me, being bought by Maclaren is like a financial company being bought by Warren Buffett: added to the price, there is the imprimatur of the most respected guys out there recognizing what YOU have done and perceiving value in it. And that has no price. I’m not sure how many real options there were for Netto to get married, but I cannot tell you how proud I am that we did to who we did.

Maclaren and Netto will do great things together. They have paid me the compliment of asking me to design for them—what I didn’t tell them was, I’d have paid them to let me do it. The prospect of doing what I have been doing for a company with their stature and ability to promote and distribute will be quite a difference from the last five years. Looking forward to that is a good feeling. If anybody ever told you what you’d be going through when you start a business, you either wouldn’t believe them, or you wouldn’t do it—I’m very lucky that it ended this way. Because now, we can really begin.

Appropriately, my beautiful wife Elizabeth bought me a motorcycle for my birthday, even though in contrast to appearances it was an impulse purchase and not planned to combat the conventional midlife crisis. I love this bike, even though I can’t ride it yet. It symbolizes all the possibilities of the future, all the places we will yet go.

Maybe I’ll ride it out to Williamsburg —with a helmet on, nobody can tell how old you are.

David Netto

New York, 2009

Supergoop

Get a bottle of this, no wait, get six.  This is the best sunscreen ever.  The subjects of my own, if highly unscientific, study are myself and two kids in the blazing Los Angeles sunshine over the last 4 months.  We are proud to say that there has been nary a pink cheek.  The best thing about this stuff (besides being organic and containing Avobenzone plus four other suncreens) is the consistency.  Although it calls itself Supergoop, there is nothing goopy about it.  It is easy to apply, not sticky, blends in easily and stays put.  No one need walk around like a ghosty either, no white residue.  I think this is a summer staple for the whole family – get the large super pump, a few flip top tubes and a quick stick - then have some fun in the sun.

 

Awarded the Gold Triangle Award for Excellence in Sun Safety by the American Academy of Dermatology.

 

Available via the web at Supergoop or at Giggle and other retail stores.

 

- By Liz

Family garden

Our garden - the early stages.

My family is spending the summer on Long Island with my in-laws.  More so than the extra space, a pool, and close proximity to the beach, we are looking forward to our organic garden!  The goal is to grow all, or at least a good amount of, our own herbs and vegetables.  Lofty ambitions?  Perhaps.  But my husband, Tin, and my in-laws, Predrag and Andrea, are avid gardeners and really seem to know what they're doing.  Tin gets most all of our seeds from rareseeds.com, a fantastic website specializing in heirloom seeds.  Rareseeds also provides helpful tips for the novice gardener, which I find quite handy, as I have not gardened much, aside from the obscure rosemary plant.  Oh, and how is little Lukas taking to gardening?  Let's just say he's a natural:     

Lukas, honing his gardening skills in the "Community Garden" at the Brooklyn Children's Museum.

-by Alison

Skiing

We took our daughters skiing this March break for the first time.  Our friends the Wallisons had invited us to their house in Snowmass, Colorado. Maud, who is four, was going to do ski school. Philomena, who is two, was still too young. In the week before leaving, we looked through old photos of Daddy Claude in his first ski outfit, an example of pure 1970s French chic, “made in Paris” as the label says, by V-de-V. Helmet, goggles, buck teeth, big smile. Our daughter Maud looks quite a lot like her daddy – more so with a helmet and goggles on – and he couldn’t wait to see her in her gear.

I wasn’t sure how Maud would learn to ski, but I was certain it was possible.  In my day I have been knocked about by enough three-foot critters in helmets snowplowing their way down the fall line like avenging angels to know that very little children can indeed learn to ski. The ski school/adventure zone at Snowmass, called the Treehouse, had been heartily recommended to us. They would take care of everything, we were told.

Word up. Day one, we got there, we registered, they outfitted Maud with skis and boots (our kind neighbors the Baumanns lent us a helmet), and we booked four days of ski school. We asked was the money refundable if, say, Maud hated skiing? “Oh, yes,” said the lady at the desk. “We’re very flexible. You have to be when you’re dealing with three and four year olds.” She told us they would refund unused days, and that if we wanted to take Maud out at lunchtime, they would refund the rest of the day. Day two, she started ski school. They taught her how to slide her skis about, and in half an hour, they moved her up the Magic Carpet. By mid-morning, she was skiing.

I can’t say it was cheap. It was, I think $140/day including the rental and the lift ticket, as well as instruction from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Not cheap, but boy, was it effective! There were four students to a teacher, and those teachers were so nice, I really mean so nice, that all of the potential downers of skiing – fear, discomfort, separation anxiety – evaporated. I saw one of Maud’s teachers, Robin, skiing with a little boy in her arms for half an hour.  The poor chap had fallen asleep, exhausted after the day’s activities, and this awesome teacher held him like a mama gorilla, while still leading her posse back to camp. 

In the attached video you see Maud on her fourth day of ski school. Daddy is proud. The video was taken by our dear friend Melissa, and it is she who shouts out “Go Maud!” Go Maud, and go Treehouse at Snowmass!

-by Winsome

Bath in a Bag

I have only recently become familiar with Erbaviva, and boy have I been missing out!  Maybe you have heard of them?  They are a USDA Certified organic company that is based in California, creating all sorts of wonderful bath and skincare goodness geared toward moms, moms to be, and of course, babies. 
One of my favorite of the many phenomenal Erbaviva products is the soap-less Baby Washbag - an unbleached muslin sachet filled with oatmeal, milk powder, lavender flowers, and lavender and mandarin oils (all organic, of course).  And that’s all - six simple, soothing, organic components to gently wash your little one's skin.  I was hooked the after the first use.  The end result was incredibly soft, more so than usual, skin for my little one, and peace of mind for me - using organic ingredients (as opposed to all that stuff I can't pronounce) will do that.  
Might I also mention how handy the washbag is!  If you're taking a trip, throw a few in your bag.  Therefore, you’re avoiding the risk of a lid popping open and all contents of your bag being soaked in bubble bath.  I have also found it makes an excellent moisturizing face cleanser (for me).  My only complaint?  I wish I had discovered it sooner!

Available at Erbaviva online and multiple retailers. $32 for 20 one-time use Baby Washbags.  Refills  are $20 for 20 washbags (a very good deal indeed!).  

- by Alison

BEST IN SHOW

The trend for creating hip play spaces has been
well under way for a few years, and most of   these joints, while adequate, I could just take or leave--but on a recent afternoon in LA I discovered the gold standard of parent/child indoor enjoymental synergy. It's called the COOP, and its motto reads " Play Party Shop Coffee...Built for Kids Designed for You". Right on.

I've heard that before, but how they deliver: There is a ball pit. There is a lit dance floor. There is a masseuse for parents. There is a    really extraordinary two-story tubular slide,   which you have to climb up a mesh tunnel to get into...But most of all, there is a sense of certainty in the design of the place, of intimacy and enough coolness but not too much, that tells you the COOP was created by somebody who really knew what one of these facilities just ought to be. If there was a perfect play space in the movies, Central Casting, it would look like this.  When you're tired of being rambunctious, there are back rooms with futons and beautiful Moroccan pillows to recharge and read a book, with natural light pouring in from windows everywhere, and darkness in the main play room which makes it into a nightclub for kids. Very clever.

If you're in the Valley with your child and looking for fun, you can't do better than the COOP :

11118 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA 91604
818.760.9613 t
www.thecoop-la.com

Oh, and if you have to make it to an appointment, beware when it's time to get your kid out of that ball pit...

-by David

NETTO Royal Blue: Now Available At Genius Jones and Giggle

Royal Blue, a limited edition collection of only 25 cribs and changers, debuted with great success in January at Barneys New York, marking the first time Barneys has carried nursery furniture. Since then, NettoCollection has expanded the distribution of our most special collection yet to include two of our most special retailers yet: the incomparable Genius Jones and the extraordinary Giggle. Our longstanding relationships with these stores make us proud that they are offering Royal Blue.

The 2-piece collection features a crib ($2750) and a changer/dresser ($2750) and boasts bleached oak and Netto’s signature high-gloss lacquer finish – this time in a deep blue.

 

Haba Walker Wagon

As a parent, I have come to accept that toys (many, many toys) are part of the package.  Though few things frustrate me more than when I find something I am certain will be a hit, only to have my son give it all of 30 seconds of his time, then quickly discard of it.  So, I am going to share what has been the most perfect toy my husband and I have purchased for our son, Lukas - the HABA Walker Wagon.  We introduced the Walker Wagon to Lukas when he was 11 months old.  He loved it!  The Walker Wagon came with us everywhere, it more or less became an extension of Lukas' body.  And now, at 17 months, he continues to have fun with it everyday.  Considering the attention span of my little one, this is nothing short of a miracle. 

It’s quite a wonderful little wagon - very sturdy, perfect to bring along to the park, stroll up and down the sidewalk, and toting around other toys. Lukas (to the right, showing off his new wagon) finds it especially useful for steamrolling everything in his path.  Last but definitely not least, it’s cute too!  The Walker Wagon is red, blue and natural wood, mixed.    HABA also has a really sweet Doll Pram, which serves the same purpose (the one in all natural wood, with blue cushions, will coordinate perfectly with your Cabine or Case Group collections!).

With spring right around the corner, I can’t think of a better way to treat your little one for having braved this cold winter so well!                                                                    

 Available at Mini Jake online or in store.  HABA Walker Wagon, $139,  HABA Doll Pram, $139.

-by Alison  

40% Off Case Group & Loft - Fight The Recession Sale!!!

Introducing NETTO's Royal Blue Collection

Every now and then it's important to design with your heart and do something special that defies all the rules – ESPECIALLY in a bad economy. I couldn't bring myself to do a black crib but they are out there, and they sort of fascinate me...

So here's our version of the Bas Kosters Bugaboo; Our take on the idea of black for nursery furniture; Our refusal to be limited by the white lacquer we are known for and loved for; and Our celebration of Netto being the first baby furniture created for and carried by Barneys, where great style basically lives. 

Oh, and if you can't decide if Royal Blue is for a boy or a girl--I couldn't either! Come to Barneys New York now and see our most special collection yet.

-David

NETTO Royal Blue is available exclusively at Barneys New York. The two-piece collection features a Crib and a Changer ($2750 each). The Royal Blue collection boasts a chic, high-gloss Royal Blue lacquer finish with solid and veneered bleached oak. Limited run of 25 pieces.