PLAY DOUGH: Mayhem, a four-year-old from Ohio who started a blog featuring handmade paper reconstructions of red-carpet dresses, will develop clothing, accessories and shoes for Crewcuts, the children’s brand of J. Crew. Called Little Mayhem with J.Crew, the collaboration will launch with nine styles, all under $100. It will be available on j.crew.com and in the style guide in late spring.
According to a J. Crew spokeswoman, the retailer was inspired by Mayhem’s level of creativity and Jenna Lyons, president and executive creative director, reached out to see if she would be interested. She and her parents came to New York to visit J. Crew’s design studio, and they worked with lots of metallic tapes, jeweled stones and neons turning her paper creations into the real thing.
Jenny Cooper, head of Crewcuts design, added, “When we met with Mayhem for the first time we were really curious to see how she would work and were amazed to watch this barely four-year-old girl start meticulously folding the pleats on a skirt and placing stones very specifically and carefully on a top she had just fashioned around herself. She has such an inventive and creative personality that really resonated with us. It was great to have a truly creative child be at the heart of the design process.”