Nowadays kids have all of the luck.

As I look back at my Mother’s pictures of my brother and I when we were kids, I am struck by the absolute lack of style in our clothing. Apparently, Toughskins, wide-striped shirts, bad-bad-really-bad sweaters and plain T’s were the only pieces of kids clothing available in the late 70’s.

We look like the before images in a “what not to wear” campaign, except maybe not as cool. I am convinced that my Mother was secretly pre-punishing us for the trouble she was sure that we would cause her later. Either that or she was laying down the long con to prep for when we had serious girlfriends and could be embarrassed into behaving by the mere mention of those old photos.

In contrast, I just got my son Axl the Carhartt jacket that I have wanted for a year. As I pull away from school drop-off in the morning I realize that both of my children have far cooler wardrobes than I have ever had. Ever.

I don’t necessarily feel like this is strictly my fault. The variety of brands and the size of the lines in hip kid’s apparel these days are far greater then when my generation was young.

At first it was just established adult brands like Patagonia, The North Face or Volcom, dropping their product lines down to youth sizes to accommodate the parents who were fans of their brands.

Now, there are cool youth-only brands popping up that push the latest trends into exclusive youth lines. Brands like Munster, Appaman and Knuckleheads have created uber-fashionable offerings without feeling the need to produce matching grown-up styles.

Even luxury brands are moving down into baby sizes. We just shot 2 month old Teo in some Canada Goose pieces that appear to be designed to let him spend a month at an arctic research facility. We just need to round out his kit with some Carhartt overalls, a Mini Shatsu onesie and some Patagonia booties and he would be ready for the trip.

Nowadays kids have all of the luck…