Founder Feature: Alex Golden of Paper Cape
Name: Alex Golden
Title : Founder
Business: Paper Cape
HQ Location: San Francisco, California
I’m excited to introduce you to Alex Golden, the founder of Paper Cape, a darling baby and kids apparel brand. I’ve worked with Alex on brand photography since before Paper Cape launched, and have been endlessly inspired each step of the way since, as she’s so thoughtfully grown and evolved the brand.
Alex creates the highest quality, comfy, classic clothes for modern kids through Paper Cape, and recently has made her own 2020 pivots including introducing children’s face masks (and: contributing to San Francisco’s Homeless Prenatal Program in the process).
Read on to learn more about the Paper Cape story, Alex’s thoughts on brand photography and her wisdom for entrepreneurs.
What inspired you to first start Paper Cape?
My mother-in-law saved the most adorable, timeless knit overalls from my husband’s childhood for my kids. They’re simple, well-made and classic. Dressing my three kids in those overalls inspired me to start a brand centered around classic clothes made from the softest, most durable materials, so that they last and can be handed down.
Paper Cape’s marquee style is classic piped pajamas in the softest, strongest Pima cotton I could find.
Fill us in on Paper Cape today and your beautiful baby and children’s products!
We’re leaning into our classic aesthetic and focusing on piped pajamas, smock dresses and Peter Pan collars. In doing trade shows this year, we noticed that the trend in kids and baby fashion mirrors that of adult fashion: comfort first and a hipster vibe. We stuck out as particularly classic and preppy. It has been really fun cultivating retail customers who appreciate a classic look.
We’ll be in 35+ boutiques around the country this fall and we continue to grow our direct business through PaperCape.com.
Absolutely loved seeing the darling masks you launched for kids this year. Tell us a bit more about them!
The masks have been this wonderful surprise hit during COVID. Their success has allowed us to give hundreds of them away to schools and local non-profits.
My four-year-old son, George, and I designed them together. We sketched several animal faces and chose from among them. He tried on samples and gave fit and color feedback. He’s really proud of their success too. I think the reason they’ve been so successful is that they make the foreign concept of mask wearing feel more like dress up.
We’ve heard from some customers that their kids are reluctant to take them off, which really makes us smile. They fit our brand criteria in that they’re easy to wear and care for, plus they’re made to last with three layers of organic cotton jersey, Plus they’re adjustable, and the animal faces are embroidered so they can be machine washed and are generally durable.
What’s ahead for Paper Cape within the next few months that you’re most excited about, and that we can look forward to for our favorite kiddos?
Oh my goodness so much! Our piped pajamas have historically been for kids 0 to 5 years old. This October, we’re introducing sizes 6-12. Among several prints and colors, we’ll have our best selling red holiday pajamas with white piping for kids 0-12Y, making it really easy to buy for the whole family.
We have a new pink bow print that’s feminine and timeless. We’re introducing smock dresses for the first time that look pulled together but feel as soft as nighties. COVID has introduced some major supply chain delays so our fall collection has been slow to launch, but we’re very excited to share it with customers this month!
How have photos and creative content supported Paper Cape’s growth as a brand?
Tory has brought Paper Cape to life through photos. Our tagline is “classic clothes for modern kids” and by that we mean that our clothes look pulled together but are easy to wear and meet kids where they are. It’s a visual brand and it’s best represented by the littles that wear it.
Our models are friends and family and our shoots are chaotic. Tory calmly watches it all unfold and captures the kids authentically playing in the clothes.
Some of my favorite shots are of the toddlers and kids at our last shoot walking, crawling, jumping up the stairs in their pajamas. We didn’t start the day thinking that the stairs would be a focal point of the shoot but it made so much sense to the kids that they would take their slippers and lovie and ‘head up to bed’ that we ended up with tons of great shots of pajama clad kids going up and down them.
What’s one piece of advice for entrepreneurs or small businesses who are just getting started?
When I first launched Paper Cape, I had a lot of questions about how to define success. I remember another entrepreneur sharing that oftentimes success is simply survival. He predicted that a lot of my early assumptions would be challenged and that one of the ways I would be able to measure my success would be in overcoming giant boulders in the road and continuing on.
This has certainly proven to be true this year. COVID has upended a lot of plans but it has also helped me challenge some assumptions (for example, trade shows can only be done in person) and resulted in a surprise hit product (face masks).
For people who are just getting started, I would remind them that their journey will probably be non-linear and mistakes are progress as long as they don’t put you out of business!
Who are a few founders or small businesses that you admire?
This one is easy! Is it tacky to say “Tory Putnam”? (Thank you, Alex!) The founders that I admire and depend on the most for advice are…
Rose Shattuck (Foggy Dog)
Britt Murlas (Little Feminist)
Steph Peng (St Frank)
Lauren Fennema (Confidants)
Thank you for sharing, Alex! Head over to PaperCape.com to find darling apparel and masks for the little ones in your life, and follow along for updates over on Instagram at @papercapeco.
