In honor of Mother’s Day and TBT, we felt inclined to feature some Mothers out there in the world doing some amazing things. And what better place to start than the Netherlands. Hip Mommy Emily Gray is from lovely Amsterdam, busy raising kids and designing some super cool clothes for the Gray Label, organic apparel for the little minimalist. Brilliant. Happy Mother’s Day.
Tell us about your kids. What’s it like being a Mom?
With pleasure…
I have 2 kids, Beer of 5 yrs (super sensitive, sweet and neat) Filippa 3 yrs (happy singing open girl who’s always dirty), and one coming in August. Then I have 2 ‘bonus’ kids of my husbands first marriage of 21 and 18 who adore Beer and Filippa. In weekends or on holidays we are a whole bunch!
Being a mum and having my work next to it and a social life, makes me a better and happier mum. For me it’s the perfect combination, although its sometimes a little hard to combine all. I enjoy the time with my kids :).
What’s the one thing as a Mom you cannot live without?
Apart from the practical kids stuff such as mouth wipes, vanish, our great babysitter and phone (makes me way more flexible in work)…cuddles and the family breakfast on the weekends! Sacred!! My husband goes out early on Saturday morning to do all groceries for the weekend breakfast and week. The kids and I prepare the breakfast, true fun.
Talk to us about raising children in Amsterdam. We can only imagine the fun…
Bringing up kids in Amsterdam has positive and negative sides. Do everything by bike with one child in front and one in the back is great. Cycling through town is so much fun. In the mornings when we cycle Beer to school, we have the best chats together. There is a lot entertainment for kids in Amsterdam, theatre, shows, museums, circus. We live in the area called the Jordaan, which is like a small little town where everyone knows each other. Everything is around the corner such as the bakery, supermarket, shops, all to do by foot.
BUT there are some negative sides of raising your kids in the centre of Amsterdam. Day cares are very expensive and also the schools have enormous waiting lists. Not so much green, very rare (expensive) to find a house with a garden. You can not really have your kids play outside with no one watching, cycling is dangerous for small kids, and a lot of outside sports such as football, hockey or tennis are far away and very hard to get in….
We are loving the minimalistic Gray Label concept. Tell us more!
The less the better is what I find important. That’s why the focus is on the details, comfort, colors and quality. You will not find romantic ruches or teddies in the collection.
Mothers Day is Here! Talk to us about some gift ideas.
Well I would love to have breakfast in bed with my kids and husband…Without having to tell them 🙂
For Gray Label, I wanted to come up with something new, and since we always receive the question of why we do not design clothes for grown ups, I thought this would be a good moment to do a nice project… A dress for Mother AND daughter!
For more on Emily, follow her on Instagram here and Twitter here.