The little mini Indigo hickory stripe Kits remind me of my favorite childhood show, Rocket Power. When I was a Grommet, I loved that show. I would literally countdown the hours to get home, finish my homework and score an episode of Rocket Power. Kickflips and 360 flips and fins free pier waves, Otto was the man. I was so enamored by the rad choice in music and the lingo these cats used but what was even cooler to me about that show - and every other show I was into at the time - was the big fits. Yea I was all about cartoon big fits - especially Rocket Power, those guys had steeze - and Fresh Prince of Bel Air big fits. It was a golden zone in my life, a formative zone in my life and I’ve honestly, been trying to relive it in new ways since then. In other words, I’ve been trying so hard not to grow up and big fits that remind me of my favorite cartoons help. 

So that’s some backstory on Groms by Imperfects now let’s talk about how it came to fruition.

It’s been many moons that I’ve been attempting to make Groms by Imperfects a real thing. We dabbled with a mini Creators Coat here and there and I threw my signature Smiley Bolts doodle on there - I made one for Ace and then for Beau - they hated ‘em so we gave em away. Then I tried a little pair of shorts and they didn’t fit and I couldn’t get the pattern right so I donated those and tabled it. It was cute thought and a rad name and it made sense but we didn’t have the ability to really commit to it just yet. How were we supposed to justify minis of everything when we were still just  trying to figure out how to make real batches of real people sized courier pants and Sheps? So we patiently worked and kept pushing and 5 years later, Groms started forming again. A little elasticated waistband that made sense, a tiny shawl that actually fit. So we pushed on it a bit last summer. 

It felt right to start with the novelty fabric we’ve become known for (and have milled to perfection) as well as the 3 silhouettes that started the company: Shepherds Shirts, Courier Pants and Shop Tees. We figured we should properly engineer these garments to ensure they could be true handmade hand-me-downs but there needed to be artwork involved as well. It all stems from art anyhow. My Son sketched the lochness monster and chose a radical tie dye. We figured a few surfboard illustrations from Uncle Dane were fitting. The Uncle Mike Smiley Bolts made their way into the mix. Man, it took a gnarly village effort to bring this altogether but you know what’s really cool? That my son Ace and I made the Groms logo on an etch-a-sketch 4 years ago! Then we drew it together in crayons on a brown grocery bag and it all came together. It’s years in the making! 

To bring the thing home and prep it for launch, we called a few friends in, Jules, Paddy and Ronan, to help us bring the clothes to life. They crushed it, all natural born stars of big fits and mini warehouse kick flips. Now, outside of Paddy (little guy wearing the glasses in the video you’re about to watch) being the cutest Grom ever, I’m just blown away by the sheer joy of making Craft and telling stories of dreams come to fruition with your kids and your friends kids can bring you. Highly recommend mini-fying your perspective every once in a while - here’s your reminder to not grow up too fast. 

Big love and Happy Little Friday Fam 

M