Canyon Kids

from Ojai Magazine Summer 2021

TOO LATE TO BE BUSTED!!

Perhaps it’s the T-shirt printed with “Not All Classrooms Have Four Walls;” or the cotton muslin crib sheet printed with oranges; or the olive green beanie with a “Wild & Free”watch.

by KAREN LINDELL

But really, what makes Kids of the Canyon so very Ojai is … the shoes. Among the shop’s best-selling footwear for kids are the Freedom Moses colorful slides for sunny activities, and the Blundstone Chelsea boots for sturdy adventures. “They are a necessity for Ojai, fashionable but functional,” said Kate Ciepluch, owner of Kids of the Canyon, a children’s clothing store in downtown Ojai.

Kids of the Canyon, which opened in 2020 on Thanksgiving weekend, is the younger sibling of the Canyon Supply apparel and gift store across the street, also owned by Ciepluch. The kids’ store offers clothing, accessories, books, and home goods for younger clientele, ages zero to 10. Even if you don’t recognize Ciepluch’s name, if you’re into fashion, you’ve likely heard of the wildly popular online clothing site Shopbop, where Ciepluch used to be the fashion director. She left the company in 2011, moved to Los Angeles in 2014, and then moved to Ojai in 2017. “I feel so fortunate to have two stores in Ojai; it’s pretty much a dream life,” Ciepluch said. Ciepluch, who grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, has never had any formal design training. She majored in political science at the University of Wisconsin, but her style roots go way back. She was a picky preschool dresser, and started rifling through Vogue magazines at a young age. “It wasn’t about designers or luxury,” she said. “I was always drawn more to the editorial shot of a stylized beautiful image.” Her only fashion school experience was a job at Bop’s small boutique store in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, which sold items from other contemporary designers. “Within a year of being there, the online store exploded,” Ciepluch said. “This was pre-online anything. People told my boss, ‘You’re never going to sell anything online.’” Ciepluch’s prescient boss moved her to New York City, where she started out as a buyer and then became fashion director. “It was not at all like the New York crazy fashion world you see in The Devil Wears Prada,” said Ciepluch, who loved her job and its small-town, family-run feel and vibe, even in New York City. Amazon acquired Shopbop in 2006. After that, Ciepluch said many of the original people she worked with left, and she eventually left as well to start her own clothing business. She created a brand called Laveer that sold high-end women’s blazers. “Laveer” is a sailing term that means “to beat against the wind,” a term she found in a nautical glossary. “I was totally obsessed with nautical fashion that evokes the feeling of being on the sea, with some bohemian and quirkier elements,” she said. Ciepluch moved to Los Angeles when a friend suggested she could make her apparel for much less money in downtown Los Angeles than in New York. Ciepluch made the move while simultaneously starting another line called Banner Day, which offers luxurious but comfy linen T-shirts.

She’s working on creating Banner Day items for children. “Embroidered little cherries are even cuter on kids’ clothes,” she said. When Ciepluch arrived in Los Angeles, she settled into the city’s Echo Park neighborhood. Living there was a “culture shock,” she said. “I thought I could walk to work downtown.” But L.A. is not New York, and she had to get used to driving again. When she became pregnant again just 17 months after her first child, she sought a different lifestyle. On a weekend getaway up the coast, she attended a yoga retreat in Ojai and found her new home. “Ojai felt like a walking community, and we went to the Deer Lodge, which reminded me of my hometown dive bar,” she said. “I thought, ‘This place is chill, and so down-to-earth.’” Ciepluch worked from home at first, but eventually realized, especially with her two young daughters, Dylan and Poppy, that she needed “workspace separation,” and decided to open her own store. With retail space in front, and an office in the back, Canyon Supply opened in April of 2019 at 307 E. Ojai Ave. Kids of the Canyon came along about 18 months later. Ciepluch describes the items at the store as “small-batch, not found on Amazon, organic, ethically made, and lots of California brands.”

Brands at the store include Pink Chicken, Tiny Whales, Nature Supply Co., Go Gently Nation, Orcas Lucille, Jan & Jul, Bear Camp, and Ride or Dye. The store aims to sell “necessities at not crazy prices,” Ciepluch said. She didn’t want to step on nearby Serendipity Toys’ toes, so she has a limited selection of toys for sale along with blankets, home goods, and artwork. A back alcove in the store owners a space for kids to play, and Ciepluch said she has plans for a refurbished multipurpose room at the back of the store: a membership-based program featuring story hours, yoga, and art classes for kids. Just as she did at Shopbop, she understands and caters to her target customers’ likes. Young kids who show a preference for clothing — as anyone with a toddler who wears only one color or outfit will understand — “love soft fabrics, tie-dye, crochet, smiley faces, rainbows, and unicorns,” she said.

Sweet and cheerful stripes, plaids, florals and bows will satisfy oohing and aahing adults. Ciepluch also thinks the tween market — around ages 9 to 12 — is “underserved,” so she’s considering clothes for that age group as well. Although Kids of the Canyon is not trying to be another Shopbop, the store does sell items online, and Ciepluch said she receives orders from all over the country. The online part of the business “is crucial in a town with a slow season,” she said. Still, “I love being online — touching the product, talking with customers, lighting candles in the store.” Fashionable, functional and friendly. Very Ojai.