Image by Hans van de Bruggen via Flickr
I’ve been paying attention to Pottery Barn Kids since 2003 or so, around the time I realized that motherhood was in my not-too-distant future.
The PBK Index: Fall 2011 Edition
Where every name has a story
Where every name has a story
Image by Hans van de Bruggen via Flickr
I’ve been paying attention to Pottery Barn Kids since 2003 or so, around the time I realized that motherhood was in my not-too-distant future.
Friends with a newborn chose the name Eli and found some nursery crib linens called “Eli the Elephant.” They chose elephants for the nursery and baby shower themes. I don’t know if their name choice precedes the linens, but they definitely latched right on to that product line’s name and bought all of it.
There was a conversation about the differences between PB Kids’ product line names and personalized names on You Can’t Call It “It” and someone made the good point that the designers probably have naming input on the product lines while the marketing team probably chooses embroidery examples from actual orders. Roland really jumps out at me–you’re right that their choices are straying more from the conservative. I like it!
Oh dear a Genevieve! Lucky for me (and her) that its so unusual over here. I’ve had a look on the website and I can’t say I’m impressed by the product. (it’s a good thing my daughter wouldn’t be asking for one, as they have a habit of loving things with their names, since they have handmade quilts from my mum!)
My grandmother told me she saw my mother’s name (Patricia Elaine) on a stationery sample in a Sears catalogue in the 1940s and fell in love with it.
The one thing that strikes me is that when taken as a whole all of these names go together remarkably well. It would be pretty easy to pick a sibset out of any combination: Roland and Genevieve; Sasha, Clayton and Camden; Darcy, Stella and Asher etc.
Now that’s a VERY nice point!
I always thought they may use names from their most common order requests…. I must admit I’ve looked for names there but never have come across anything really different. BUT it doesn’t make me want to buy a product anymore!
After pouring through their catalog, I did order a Garden Daisy shower curtain. For a bajillion dollars. (Okay – $40. But it is a SHOWER CURTAIN!) Ah, the perils of surfing for names …
Serena and lily names their products as well. Not only do they name them but they also describe the imaginary child for whom the product is named. http://www.serenaandlily.com/Baby/Baby-Girl-Wren
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the product lines are named after employees’ children, or perhaps they’re names that members of the marketing team considered using or have heard of in their kids’ circle of friends and thought sounded cool. It doesn’t seem any more methodical than that. It does sound plausible that they may have made a conscious decision to branch out somewhat and use names a little less common and a little less traditional.
The company we bought our stroller from uses names for the different colours available, and they are clearly aiming at a target market of brand-savvy parents with a decent amount of disposable income. So far I’ve seen Jake, Cole, Denny, Carlin, Mica, Lindsey, Ani, Sebby, Maya, Kyle and Makena. Some of those are currently trendy names while others are not, so I can only assume there is some personal connection attached to each name, or again, that they went with names they’ve heard recently and so assumed they sounded fairly current.
It seems using given names has become a very popular practice across the board these days: everything from shoes to dresses to linens seems to have a ‘people’ name. I’m always a little amused when I discover a product I’m looking at has the same name as I do. 🙂
I had a look at their website (oh dear, they offer international shipping!) and it almost seems like they “pitch” a particular look to a particular type of person – if you’re a Scarlett, you’ll like this pink yet sensible sort of bedroom, if you’re a Clara, then you’ll go for more a European princess look, Emma gets a very innocent white bedroom, Addison a sort of funky-pastel look etc.
Ironically for someone who got a name off a kettle (aged 7) I find it off-putting to see human names on furniture. I keep seeing ads on TV where it tells you to take home a “Rosalie” sofa and then shows someone luxuriating in a sensual manner all over it, or to “get to know” the Ashton dining suite.
I don’t want to form a personal relationship with my furniture or have intercourse with it – I just want to sit on it and put objects on it!
My company puts out a catalog, although it’s not nearly as illustrious as PBK. The merchandisers generally use the names of employees or employees’ kids.
Genevieve’s a name near & dear but unusable by me. It’s also the name of one of Josie’s best friends, so doubly unusable. I do think PB picks names that are on the rise, or in Ryan/Emily: figuring someone googling their kids name might stumble across the item in their catalog, But that’s just my theory. I don’t really know why they pick any name. If it were my company, I’d name things with *my* favorite names and bless the coincidence.
I mentioned on the post about Murphy that I just love the name Darcy on a girl. Other than that, nothing too exciting here.
Also, if I was to do a Genevieve-esque name I’d go full Italian/Harry Potter and name her Ginevra.
I adore the name Darcy, mostly for a lad but I’ve been coming around to the notion of using it for a little girl as well. One of my favourite bands, Madness, hail from Camden Town which makes me love the name, but I’ve heard it’s also the name of a slightly dodgey area somewhere in the States.
Camden, NJ, is dodgey. Camden Yards, Baltimore, is a great baseball stadium. Definitely not a name I’d use.
None of these names is either creative or controversial. Seems more like they’re choosing traditional-yet-modern names, so that customers think, “Ah, these products feel like us.”
I agree – except that they’re definitely choosing from a broader name pool than once was the case. (Or I think they are … I don’t have any catalogs from 2001! Wonder if I can buy one on eBay?) Anyhow, what I’m really wondering is if they’re influential. Which is a fuzzy kind of word, but I figure if I put it in writing, maybe something would emerge.