Essex mum Lisa launches new children's clothing brand Anyone Can Be to inject diversity into kids' outfits

It was while searching for a T-shirt for her oldest daughter Isabella, she realised there was a major need for diversity in fashion images and as a result she has set up her own clothing brand in a bid to bridge that gap.

Lisa, who is also mum to three-year-old Isaac and Essie, one, says Isabella, who is four, specifically wanted a T-shirt with a mermaid on.

But it soon became a struggle to find what they were looking for.

“None of the mermaids on the T-shirts we found remotely resembled her.

“I was really disappointed to discover that mixed-race and black children are rarely featured on clothing, greetings cards, pyjamas or swimwear.

“As a white woman, this wasn’t something I had noticed before, but I want my children, and children like mine, to feel they are represented within society,”explains Lisa.

She soon began researching the market to see if there were any brands she had missed, but came up with a blank.

“I thought at that point ‘hang on a minute’ I could do something about this and I did a lot more research into it.”

Lisa wants to see characters of all shapes, sizes and colours on clothing

Having worked within the insurance industry in London for the past 16 years, Lisa was made redundant from her job while on maternity leave with her youngest child Essie.

“It was maybe the right time to look into something new and this just seemed a great opportunity,”she says.

Lisa began to bring together ideas for designs and drew up some sketches before deciding to bring on board a designer who helped her ideas become reality. The clothing was then professionally made.

The Anyone Can Be brand was born and, while it might be a small venture at present, Lisa has big ambitions.

“I knew what my two older children like to play, things like fairies and pirates and superheroes and so I worked from there.

“My daughter is not particularly into girlie princesses either so our three girl characters who are princesses wear Converse trainers and Doc Martins and are quite tough as well.

“We created actual characters with names and back stories.

“I have also been in contact with a writer who is currently at university with a view to actually creating storybooks featuring my characters” she explains.

She hopes the brand will eventually make its way into the High Street and into established retailers.

Lisa adds: “I just wanted my children to be able to have a fairy or pirate superhero Tshirt with a character that actually looked like them.

“I want my children and all kids to grow up knowing they can be anything they want to be, and that starts with the images they see as children.”

Lisa, who lives in Colchester, has been married to her husband Daniel for seven years.

Daniel is originally from Uganda and later raised in the UK and America where he lived with his aunt from when he was in his teens.

The couple met in London and moved to Hockley and then Rayleigh before coming to Colchester a couple of years ago.

The beautiful Munyenya family

“It actually really surprised me when we couldn’t find T-shirts with mixed race children on because we live in such a diverse society now.

“When I looked into it more I found one T-shirt and that was in Zara.

“It is crazy and while my children actually do not see colour at all, they do want to be able to see a character that looks like them, that they can relate to.

“And that is the point of this really, I just think there is a real need for it,” she adds.

She says she was alarmed by the lack of inclusion overall.

“I wanted to make sure I had a character who wore glasses too because I hardly saw any clothes where the characters were wearing them unless it was Postman Pat or someone like that.

“If you have to wear glasses, you want to know you are not the only one so it is important it is represented on the High Street.”

Since creating the range of T-shirts, Lisa has been on a mission to get the word out about Anyone Can Be Clothing.

“I have been trying to get the word out using social media and also by talking to the mums at my son’s nursery.

“The feedback has been very positive so far so I am really pleased.”

She even has some celebrity back-up in the form of former X Factor contestant Zoe Birkett, who has also toured widely in musicals including the Bodyguard.

“She put her daughter in one of the T-shirts which was a real boost.

“I just want it to become the norm, but at the moment it is actually a bit alarming really how few non white children’s characters there are.

“There is Doc McStuffin on Disney, which is very inclusive, but other than that there are not many and I really want that to change.”

The range includes clothes for babies, youngsters up to ten and for teenagers, which will be available in coming months.

For more information or to order any of Lisa’s designs, click here.