Getting Chi Khi with Nat

We love the new look of Chi Khi collection. Could you tell us why you decided to design your own kids clothing line?

A few things. Firstly, when you have children, your whole world becomes about them and my kids both have sensitive skin and suffer from eczema and dermatitis. The second thing, I just wanted to see what I was capable of as a woman, because in this industry you’re always waiting for the phone to ring. I just felt like I wanted to take matters into my own hands and see if I could create something that was all mine and I didn’t have to wait for someone else to press the green light. So I definitely wanted it to be something that I love, that was inside me and the whole thing with my kids obviously, I love them and they inspire me. I love fashion, architecture and design so putting all these together was a match made in heaven. I ended up sampling bamboo fabrication and I was amazed by all the different levels of bamboo. I started researching if any clothes in the market were made from bamboo and they were, but nothing was really cool and edgy it was all very beige and kind of very boring so I went, “I want to make clothes out of this amazing bamboo fabric.” It’s great for kids with sensitive skin but also looks cool and the design isn’t very fitted so the from the beginning, it’s been monochromatic, unisex, urban, edgy and primarily made from bamboo, which is one of the key features.

We can definitely relate to the things that you’re saying, As a parent it’s actually really difficult to find clothing for kids with skin sensitivities.

I wanted to make the clothes comfortable so that kids could play in but still looked really cool. Bamboo is so durable and my son has been wearing the same onesie for a year and it almost looks brand new and yes, it’s getting short in the legs [laughs] but he’s still wearing it. I also learnt that there needed to be a practical element to the clothing line as well.

We’ve noticed that your clothing line allows a “room for growth” element for growing kids. As a parent, were you finding that you weren’t getting enough value for your money with the clothing that you were buying from the marketplace? 

A lot of the times I was. There’s definitely some beautiful brands in the market. There’s some great kids clothing in Australia and I don’t want to bag it out too much but there’s nothing worse than spending good money on something and having it fall apart after two washes. With our bamboo fabrication, which is used in most of our garments, it’s so much more durable and practical for parents.

Could you tell us more about Chi Khi’s partnership with Indego Africa and how it all started? 

Before we even launched, I felt like I wanted to partner with someone along those lines of and it took a while. I found Ethical Fashion Initiative and it was all about giving women a chance to make their own living. I loved the whole concept so I went about trying to find it but seeing as we were still a small business, they weren’t interested in us. I was researching another organisation which had a similar concept and I found this place called Indego Africa. I loved the fact that they were non-for-profit and how funds would go back into training and supporting these women and their families, so essentially it’s not a hand out or a charity but you’re employing them to work by using the skills they’ve learnt. It takes a woman up to five hours to make one bracelet. I loved the story behind women supporting themselves.

That’s really inspiring, Natalie. Can I just ask what you’re hoping to achieve with Chi Khi this year?

We’re in a really interesting phase because it’s grown so much in the last twelve months. I mean we started online and we only had clothing between the sizes of newborn to size 4, and then we went up to size 7 within the next season. We launched Chi Khi bare, which are skincare products for minis. The wonder cream is extraordinary and it’s received the best testimonials from people with kids suffering from eczema and dermatitis. People have said it’s the only thing that has worked.

So far we’ve launched two products including a nappy balm as well. It’s natural, smooth and glides on like velvet. When I trialed the nappy balm on my son, he had some redness on his bottom but after his lunchtime sleep, half of it [redness] was completely gone and then the following day, nothing was even visible. We’ve been getting such great feedback so we would like to launch some more products this year. We’re also looking at different partnerships in growing the business locally and internationally.

This is a very creative business venture which has obviously taken a lot of time, hard work and commitment. How do you balance running Chi Khi and being a mother to Harper and Hendrix?

It’s really hard, I won’t lie. Sometimes I’m in the corner, pulling my hair out in tears [laughs]. I really do have an amazing and supportive husband who puts in 24/7. I also have incredible family and friends and I have great people who work with me. I don’t get it right all the time but I’ve tried to implement some new things in the last twelve months which has helped me get a bit of a better balance. We first started with no phones between 5pm and 7pm because I found that I was constantly working. When it’s your own business, you’re working all the time and you’re always on your emails and on the phone. Don’t get me wrong, every now and again, I sneak over and press just to check [laughs]. I feel so much lighter and my brain has had time to kind of reset and it really gives me so much energy to both my kids.

After they go to bed, I’ll go back on to the computer and get some work done until 11pm. Ideally, I don’t want to work until 11pm every night but it’s been happening a lot lately and that’s okay. The other thing I’ve changed in the household is in the mornings, we take out the TV from our lounge room so in the mornings, there’s no TV. We put music on, we bounce around and get ready for school. There’s no heaviness, plonking ourselves in front of the TV so that’s been a new change which has been great as well.

That’s really bold of you guys to do that.

I wasn’t sure if I was able to keep it up and everybody was looking at me like I was crazy. It’s actually been one of the best things we’ve ever done and it’s like motivation to start the day in a whole different way.

What has been the funniest white lie your parents have ever told you?

One time my uncle told me if I ate seeds out of a fruit, it would grow inside my belly and grow out of my mouth.

What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learnt as a parent from your children?

The most valuable lesson would be is to slow down. Take your time. Really take it all in because life goes by so fast.

You’ve set the bar so high, Nat with everything that you’re doing. Do you see your kids following in your footsteps with music, fashion or acting?

It’s so interesting because their personalities are so defined at such a young age. Harper has been a chatterbox since she was two so she’s such a little performer. She has moments where she’s incredibly shy and I’m not exactly sure what she would do. I do know that she’s incredibly funny and she puts on accents. When she went to my friend’s house, my friend told me that Harper literally spoke in an accent for half an hour. There’s elements there that could lead to being on the stage but I’m not sure. She’s really good at sport too but she’s not as interested.

Hendrix is actually very aware of music. When he was about two, he went into our studio and he would be pointing at something at the desk. I know he’d been in the music room before but it was such a strange thing. One time, he walked over to the drum kit and picked up the drumsticks and went to play. He then realised the drumsticks were around the wrong way so he turned them around and continued playing.

Does being in the spotlight affect your family life? Do you have to deal with paparazzi or fans when you’re out and about? 

Sometimes there’s this guy literally parked down at the end of the street and just waits for us to leave the house. One day they actually followed us all the way down to a holiday place an hour and a half away and then another guy followed us as well. So that was really confronting and horrible to be honest. We were going down and having a very private family holiday and even my husband was getting worked up then that got me worked up and I said I’m not going to be leaving my apartment, I don’t want them to see me in my swimmers and it was kind of horrible. That was probably one of the worst times I have to say and then we thought that they left so two days later, I’m like right, I’m getting into my bikini and I’m going out there and they’re gone but of course, they had come back so that was really frustrating and then for them to get shots of the kids. My husband hates it more than I do like I sort of just feel like ‘leave them alone, let them do what they do and don’t stress about it. There’s no point yelling at them or anything like that, it’s not really going to do anything. If anything, they probably want to take more photos.

They probably do it to get a rise out of you as well.

As long as they’re not taking photos of the kids in their school uniform or anything like that, that would really piss me off [laughs].

We don’t blame you. We would be the same. I think everyone wants to protect their kids. 

Now we doubt you have any, what do you like to do in your spare time? 

[laughs] Look, when I have spare time. I mean who knows.

With everything that you’re doing, do you not have time out for you?

I do. I just started playing tennis, five months ago. I’ve never played in my life so I started and I was so bad but that has been so therapeutic for me and it just gives me one hour a week and really concentrating and like learning about everything. Just all the skills involved in tennis and I do really like that. I mean, if I have a lot of time, I’d like a nap time, but you know that’s kind of pretty rare. I even like taking walks down with my family down to the bay and I like reading books but I haven’t been doing that much lately.

What’s been your favourite family holiday destination?

I haven’t been on holiday for like years. We did go on a great family holiday to Fiji just before Hendrix was born – that’s the last holiday I’ve had by the way and it was unbelievable. The Fijian women were just so beautiful and I just want to go back there tomorrow!

Do you have a celebrity crush?

I haven’t had time for a celebrity crush but I want one now that you’ve mentioned it! I definitely really like George Clooney. There’s something about that kind of older man with a bit of grey, you know. Not too old but I’ll go with George Clooney.

Hypothetically, if you retire tomorrow what would you be doing?

I think I would be buying houses, renovating them and selling them off. So I’d be flipping houses. I love the design process and architecture so I think I’d enjoy the whole process.

As an entrepreneur and a mother, what qualities do you think are important in juggling the two roles?

It’s finding balance. I’m not perfect at it but for me, if I don’t get the balance right, I just feel all over the place. With the morning ritual, it’s given us a concentrated and meaningful time with the kids. After school, it’s very much the same. But then when you’re working, you’re very switched on so it’s hard to focus when you’re kids are at home. I’m still a little bit all over the place with that but I’m working on it [laughs].

Where can myChild readers  find out more information about Chi Khi?

Chi Khi’s Autumn Winter range will launch on the 30th of March online. I’m excited to offer mychild readers a special preview before it is released.

Chi Khi is online and you can access it on chikhi.co