A Family Affair: Olive & Owen, Allison Izu’s Adorable New Family Line

Just add cute kiddos.

January 10, 2017

Natalie Schack,

Aunt May’s kickass cheesecake.

Cousin Dave’s hilarious impersonations.

Your baby niece Kylie’s hilarious pranks on Grandma.

When you’ve got a clan as cool as yours, bidding adieu to family-filled holiday time can be a real bummer. Hey, January: Thanks for being such a party pooper.

That’s why we love the perfect timing of Allison Izu Song’s brand-spanking-new family line, Olive & Owen. The cute concept brings grownups and tots together with matching prints and coordinating designs, and is the perfect way to celebrate your awesome ‘ohana with style—all year round.

Izu Song, owner and designer of petites brand Allison Izu, has always had an inkling that she’d love starting up a line for kids, especially since she’s had a hard time finding clothes for her little guy that live up to her fashion standards. And, while moms and girls have got loads of matching threads options, junior and pop have got some slim pickings. Ever the fair mama, she decided to whip up a line for all her tots, with matching options for daughters and moms, and dads and sons.

The kid-informed result (Izu Song surveyed her children on everything from the fabrics to the logo to the brand name) is packed with playful patterns that work on dudes and gals of all ages. Take the “Early Bird Gets the Worm,” which sports frisky white and brown sparrows. The lively design shows up next to vibrant yellow on a cap-sleeve empire dress for little ladies, as a subtle border on a roomy black women’s shift, and as dashing aloha shirts for big and little lads.

Made entirely in Hawai‘i with organic 100-percent cotton, the pieces are a cool, contemporary take on the matchy-matchy family-picture aesthetic, with a durable construction that totally works for everyday wearability. After all, as a mom, Izu Song knows what makes an ensemble family-friendly: Think pieces that can be dried and washed in the machine (even by Dad!), comfy, high-quality fabrics … and no white, obviously! Mud puddles, come at us.

Go ahead and brood over that.

$35–$92, AllisonIzu.com and The Collective, Ward Village Shops, 1050 Ala Moana Blvd., 591-6219