Interview by Charlotte Burgoyne.

After twenty years as a marketing director for big corporations, Yasemin Akcakaya finally decided to make her childhood dream come true: opening a clothing business. Her choice was not too surprising, considering that she grew up in Turkey were her parents own an organically certified clothing factory! An inspiring trip to Tasmania helped her find the ‘soul’ of her brand, Penguin Organics. The travel suited design and the cool responsible prints of her baby clothing line attracted our attention. Keep reading to learn all about it.

Tell us the story behind Penguin Organics.

During a trip to Australia, I visited a town called Penguin – named for its large population of fluffy black and white flightless birds. I learned a lot about the penguins’ condition and how they are affected by climate change. To me, endangered animals are in many ways similar to babies – fragile and in need of us! I want to leave them a beautiful world. This visit boosted me to start my clothing business. When I got back home I started working with designers to come up with a smart line of apparel for little ones.

What is Penguin Organics concept?

We make clothes and accessories for babies from 100% organic cotton. I decided to focus on babies aged 0 to 18 months because I think it is more fun to try to come up with clothing for them and also because I could not find beautiful organic gift for my nephews! The need in market was appealing to me. I want to encourage people to be more conscious about climate issues and buy gentler products for babies. 

How is your brand different from other baby brands?

The cotton we use is from Turkey and it is one of the best organic cottons in the world. It is really really soft to the touch to cuddle baby’s skin and has no allergens. Our prints are also unique, as we focus on endangered species and nature related themes. We only use happy colors to brighten family’s lives. Our best sellers are the penguin and the bear patterns. Through our products, we also try to raise awareness among parents about the necessity of nature preservation. Hopefully they can pass the message on to their kids too.

At Little Voyageurs we absolutely love your romper – hyper convenient when moving around. Tell us about their specific design.

Our rompers have two functions that I believe make them travel suitable items. First, their front opening makes it easy and fast to change baby’s diaper on the move. Secondly, we added contrasting striped cuffs for the feet that you can keep fastened when your baby is little or to keep him warm and open when he grows. This way you can enjoy our rompers for a long time. Our playsuits, like all of our products are also ‘super-light’ and easy to wash which I believe is important when you travel with babies!

WHICH ONE WILL YOU CHOOSE? CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR SELECTION.