Business & Tech

'Mama-preneur' Specializes in Toddler Outfits

Kellee Bachour is designer and owner of Good Boy Friday, an online toddler-wear company with Lamorinda roots.

Lamorinda is the setting for an entrepreneur trying to take the field of (boy) toddler fashion by storm.

Many of the young stars in Good Boy Friday photo shoots are friends and classmates of 3-1/2-year-old Gideon Bachour of Orinda. Or Gideon himself.

Good Boy Friday, an online toddler's fashion company, started a year ago as a dream from Gideon's mom Kellee Bachour. A native of Lafayette, Bachour spent years living in the Middle East and studying fashion design in New York. Then the family returned to Lamorinda and she had trouble finding a job in marketing. She started sketching some ideas for sturdy, fashionable clothing for toddler boys.

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"The confidence needed to build a garment from a paper pattern and fabric was part of my childhood," said Bachour, whose seamstress mom regularly made new dresses for Kellee and her doll.

"With Gideon in preschool, dapper outfits were a necessity every day … and they were hard to find," Bachour stated in a company brochure. "Good Boy Friday was born out of that simple need — comfortable to wear, easy to move in and a tailored fit." Also an obsession with children's boutiques, department stores and online sites, she said.

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The name Good Boy Friday starting with GB echoes the initials of Gideon Bachour — GB.

GBF is growing with every month. In September, it signed with Paperdoll Style Showroom in Los Angeles to exhibit its clothing. In November, it signed with an Emeryville factory. In February, its spring line will be out, the third seasonal collection in GBF's history.

The company's clothing is available at Tulip Baby and Kids Boutique in Lafayette.

Airplane nostalgia

Some of GBF's fashion photo shoots use the backdrop of local airports. "Airplanes always had a nostalgic feel for me," she said, with childhood memories of hanging out at Buchanan Field in Concord while her parents, both pilots, were involved in management there. She intends to become a pilot some day.

Bachour has a blog featuring "a collage of good design."

GBF's growth has been "unexpected and overwhelming and exciting … and a spiritual journey," said Bachour. "It's amazing to do this with my son and my husband." Her husband Fadi Bachour is supportive, she said, and a source of wise counsel on visits to factories — not to mention looking after Gideon while the mom entrepreneur is on business travel.

Bachour is a supporter of a new group in Lamorinda and Walnut Creek called Mamapreneurs — with get-togethers for moms who run their own businesses. The first meeting two months ago drew 30 mamapreneurs, Bachour said.


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