Almost Genius: Bugaboo Teams Up With Missoni, In High-Fashion Stroller

Uh, finally?

Well, this was inevitable. Bugaboo, transport to baby high rollers everywhere, is trying its hand at haute fashion. In July, the luxury stroller company will release custom Missoni prints designed to gussy up its chichi Bugaboo Bee and Bugaboo Cameleon models for $199 and $269, respectively. (And that's in addition to the $600+ for the base model.) Because mommies and daddies kiddies in Soho have needs, too!

Or something. Details, per the press release:

A bright block print adorns the Bugaboo Cameleon sun canopy and bassinet apron, while vibrant zigzags decorate the Bugaboo Bee sun canopy. Each collection is completed with a knitted Missoni blanket. The luxury knitted blanket features Missoni’s signature craftsmanship and quality.

Both will be available exclusively through Neiman Marcus. All a tad too precious, if you ask us, but hey, that’s fashion. Here’s where things get annoying: Bugaboo is trying to bill this partnership as something that could nurture children’s development. The press release quotes Missoni co-owner Angela Missoni as saying, “Children are so sensitive to colors and patterns. Working with Bugaboo has given me a unique opportunity to create a dream stroller that I hope will be enjoyed by children and will stimulate their senses.”

Okay, sure. Science has shown that children respond positively to colors and patterns. But nowhere does it say that a $269 Missoni print is any better at stimulating senses than something you could buy for $29 at Target. To suggest as much, however subtly, goes a long way toward exploiting people’s insecurities over their parenting skills as pretext for getting them to buy more (and fancier) stuff.

To mark the launch, Bugaboo commissioned a video that’s got a waifish, creaturely "mom" in a miniskirt and a Joan of Arc haircut pushing a stroller, but mostly just gazing intensely at herself in a mirror. The film is supposed to show “where the worlds of Missoni and Bugaboo become one with an optical illusion.” An illusion, huh? We couldn’t think of a better metaphor for the relationship between fashion and good parenting.

via http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663740/almost-genius-bugaboo-teams-up-with-missoni-in-high-fashion-stroller