The last decade+ of building Wunderkin Co. has been magical. The brand grew from my kitchen table at lightening speed, and the community, adventures and memories are so dear to my heart. It shaped who I was in most of my 30s! If you have listened to our new podcast The Wunderkin Co. Story, you also know that it was full of painful learning lessons, and I developed a complicated relationship with the company.
After pausing the company last June, I started a little silly etsy shop called Dottee, and made personalized keychains. It's been fun, low stress and reminded me that I still absolutely LOVE creating. It was a low stakes Etsy experiment, and turns out, I still love business.
As I contemplated reopening Wunderkin Co., I kept feeling friction around the name. I am completely proud of what we accomplished with our community and company, but the name kept making me feel this deep sense of needing the restore what was, rebuild the past and redeem my story. I finally had a realization that what I truly needed was to give Wunderkin Co. a clean beginning, middle and end. I want Wunderkin Co. to be an archive: a house for all the beautiful things we created and the memories traveling all over the US meeting our beloved customers and having adventures together.
Dottee is all the goodness of Wunderkin Co. that is continuing in the children's fashion space. It is the container for the original brand pillars: adventure and courage, joy and connectedness, all through a happy nostalgic search for childhood curiosity. Dottee is also completely new and fresh, and aligns with where I am now in life, as I turn 40 this November!
I'm excited for you to step into the world of Dottee ✨. Below is a little Pinterest inspo for the new brand + the original hand-drawing of Addie by Christian of @1924us, which is still so symbolic and fitting with the new name. :)
Hillary
