The brand story
Developed by friends, Corrine and Kishana, CoCo and KiKi dungarees are ethically sourced and handmade at the Lakeside Studio in Bangalore, India. With circularity at the heart of their focus, the studio is entirely run by local women, now masters in their craft.
We are keen to give back and to make giving back easier, which is why we’ve ethically sourced our garments and we’ve hand-picked the projects that the profits from the sales of our dungarees get reinvested into.
The founders
Kishana is originally from Jamaica and Corrine is from Dorset. They met in 2019 whilst working at a marketing company in West London. The friendship was instant, cemented by plantain and West London’s finest jerk chicken.
Fast forward to 2020 and a marathon-length walk later. The two decided that they needed to come out of lockdown better than the world went into it. This is where CoCo & KiKi was born. The sheer lengths of the walks lead to a lot of time bouncing around ideas. Ethically and sustainably sourced with giving back at the centre and a pledge to reinvest 100% of profits responsibly.
The dungarees
The ultra-soft dungarees are made for children from 2 to 12 years old and come in four glorious shades: vibrant orange, maroon, chocolate brown, and navy blue.
All are emblazoned with the brand’s signature fox, a nod to children’s playfulness and curiosity.
Each set is made with the highest quality corduroy, lined with 100 percent cotton, and fixed with adjustable coconut buttons and roll-up, roll-down trouser legs for easy adjustment.
In keeping with the ethos of the brand all orders are taken on a pre-order basis to ensure the safety of those involved in production.
The projects
The first Coco & Kiki project took place in the Philippines where they aimed to stop people living hand to mouth and help them to develop businesses. These were in the form of ‘homemade’ Deliveroo-style packages. For example, if someone could not afford an oven and they wanted to start a bakery, Coco & Kiki would send them an oven so they could begin to earn a living. It was the Coco & Kiki team who sourced people all across the Philippines who fitted the bill and needed a foot-up into the business world. From hands-on business advice to the required technology, devices, etc, Coco & Kiki were there to help.
The Coco & Kiki team has been involved in many fundraising events in the Philippines and has previously raised over 10k towards care packages in this manner, but they very quickly realised that this was not the answer and they wanted to do more.
The second project that Coco & Kiki launched, involved a group of entrepreneurs in India who have been working with a brand called ‘Grandma Would Approve’ and they provide many circular fashion items alongside re-cycling clothes into new fashionable items.
They also have a long-standing relationship with a village in the South of India just outside of Alleppey and for the last 5 years have been helping them obtain school supplies alongside helping them learn and teach English as they believe this forms a valuable base to opening key gateways within India and beyond.
