Tip Sheet.(brief items)

Byline: Sana Butler, Raina Kelley, Alexandra A. Seno, Dave Roos, John Sparks

FASHION

Designer Togs For Tykes

Syria Lam spent $300 for a wine-red, velvet Simonetta suit for her 3-year-old son to wear to a wedding. She considered it a good investment. "He was potty-trained," says the Hong Kong mom of three, "so I didn't worry about accidents."

Never mind that he only wore it a few times. Increasingly, the best customers of designer labels are the parents of those in (or just out of) diapers. Indeed, the children's market is one of the few clothing sectors left with room for big growth. Over the past five years, sales of kids' attire have risen 30 percent in the U.K. alone, up to nearly 5 billion pounds, according to a 2004 report by Mintel International, a London-based market-research company. The report cites luxury labels as the driving force. "Even though people are having fewer children, they are spoiling the ones they have," says Mintel's Jenny Catlin.

High-end designers are keen to cash in. In the past year Dolce & Gabbana added a babies' line to its kids' collection, and Roberto Cavalli started one for junior boys; Giorgio Armani--who dropped his U.S. children's line in 1995--decided to bring it back. Versace Young and Moschino added newborn and baby clothes to their youth collections. "Mothers spend more for themselves than their children," says Linda Watt, a mother of three who recently bought Our Kids Boutique in London. "You feel proud when a stranger says, 'Don't they have lovely clothes!' " Another London children's boutique, Peppermint, expects to sell out of its D&G sheepskin jacket with rabbit trim, starting at size 2T. Price: $1,600.

New York schoolgirls Isabella and Sophia Barco, 6 and 3, have labels in their closet that many grown women would kill for: an Hermes red quilted jacket, a black Gucci dress and red Mary Janes by Moschino. "Most are for special occasions, like dinner at their grandparents'," says mom Samantha. Isabella's everyday favorite is a frogs-and-lily-pad dress by Moschino. "It is more age-appropriate," says Samantha. "How many 6-year-olds do you see in a little black dress?"