Petidoux

IT ALL STARTED WITH...

The Petidoux story began in 2013, when Alexandra discovered a tiny, hole-in-the-wall children’s boutique in Soho, which sold unique pieces and in particular beautiful pyjamas made with Peruvian Pima cotton. As the young mother of two toddler boys, she was impressed with the quality of the fabric and realized it would make the perfect foundation for her own artistic impulses. 

After studying in London and starting a career in finance and consulting, she had always dreamed of founding her own company while finding an outlet for her lifelong creative energy and itch to make something with her hands.

As a child, Alexandra would knit and sew with her Italian-born grandmother Mémé Joséphine, a tough, down-to-earth woman born and raised on a farm in Piedmont, who had worked in a shoe factory in Lyon after fleeing the Mussolini regime. Mémé Joséphine, became a strong anchor in Alexandra’s life, providing her and her beloved younger sister with a sense of grounding, as the family kept moving and travelling the world, following Alexandra’s father from Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore to Bahrein and the Reunion Island, with a final stop in London.

Knitting and needlework remained a passion throughout Alexandra’s life and she would always knit blankets for newborn babies, offer to stitch the occasional hole or loose hemming for her friends, send handmade scarves and sweaters for birthdays and holidays.

Although she never received any formal training in drawing, she always found herself doodling on her notebooks in school, and later on her financial reports, and after her sons were born, everything came together and she decided to strike out on her own, fulfilling her dream of making children’s clothes.

She rented a co-working space and with the support of her husband, started working entirely by herself, creating a few original designs and managing everything from the manufacturing and shipping process to establishing a network of retailers, while travelling to Peru several times a year.

The first Petidoux collection included the classic button print, a tribute to her grandmother and her boxes full of buttons of all shapes and sizes, which provided hours of entertainment to Alexandra and her sister when they were little girls. The puppy and spaceship prints were also part of this first series, inspired by her boys’ plush toys and dreams to become astronauts.

A lifelong traveller, born in France into a family of Greek and Italian descent, Alexandra naturally found herself at home in New York, and Petidoux is a perfect reflection of this unique heritage and blend of influences. Definitely French-inspired, all Petidoux pyjamas are designed in their offices in New York, and made in their factory in Lima, Peru, following stringent manufacturing and ethical standards.

They care deeply about every single piece they create and hope your children will enjoy their Petidoux pyjamas.