Hatley Nature invites you to “get clothes to nature”. Best known for their pun-based animal designs, such as “Making the Moose out of Life”, humour is an integral part of this French-Canadian company, a fact made quite evident in the story of Hatley Nature’s origins:
Growing up in the small town of Hatley, the Oldland boys loved running naked through the woods. But the day came when Chris, Nick and Jeremy had to leave Hatley and enter the real world where public nudity just wasn’t understood. To be accepted, the boys combined their love for nature with comfortable clothing and the Hatley line was born.
Joining Hatley Nature’s all-age “punny” critters are three playful lines of clothing and accessories for children: Aliens, Mermaids, and Wild Pirates.
The Aliens designs are reminiscent of elementary school class assignments to draw what outer space might look like. There’s an Aliens pajama set, onesie, raincoat, rainboots, umbrella, back-pack, and the adorable Aliens Kids Lunch Tote. The lunch tote features the same all-over print that most of the Aliens items do, with friendly aliens of all sorts shaking hands with astronauts, flying saucers through the stars, and bearing banners that spell out “take me to your leader”. Such optimistic depictions of interstellar peace do Star Trek proud. The dark blue canvas has a contrasting orange trim and light blue handle, and the zipper, which wraps around three sides of the bag and has two zip pulls for easy access, is a matching light blue. The tote is well-padded to protect its contents and keep them insulated, and has an elastic, velcro-tabbed strap to secure drink containers. There’s even an inner pocket to put mission notes for your little space explorer.
The Mermaids collection, sporting phrases like “Sea Princess” and “Catch of the Day”, includes a swimsuit (naturally!), reversible sun hat, onesie, pajama set, and the Mermaids Messenger Bag. This roomy bag is bursting with pockets of various sizes — three outside and three within the main compartment, one of which zips up — to store sunscreen, keys, snacks, and other day trip necessities, as well as the interesting bits of flotsam usually collected on walks along sandy shores. It’s the perfect beach bag for fantasy enthusiasts who adore the movie Splash and always keep a lookout for signs of merfolk when near the ocean. The aqua-coloured fabric has an all-over print of starfish, seashells, and mermaid silhouettes, with an embroidered starfish on the front flap, dark blue trimming, and a solid blue liner. Made of soft cotton canvas, the messenger bag is machine washable… just remember to securely tuck the adjustable shoulder strap inside the bag first, as it has two large, antique-finished buckles on it that could damage a washer if allowed to bang about like loose anchors. A magnetized snap closure ensures that none of your valuables will be lost at sea.
Searching for a treasure trove that Captain Jack Sparrow would have envied as a child? Then plunder some booty from the Wild Pirates. Pint-sized swashbucklers have pajama sets, t-shirts, and a onesie, hoodie, raincoat, rainboots, and umbrella to choose from, while the Pirate Sport Tank and Pirate Girly Tee are loot for teens. (Hopefully adult buccaneers will eventually get a few selections, too.) The Wild Pirates line dips into a vast pool of nautical imagery, so everything one would expect to see in a pirate design is represented: tall ships, Jolly Roger flags, skull & crossbones, treasure chests, gold coins, kegs, anchors, peg legs, hook hands, and swords. Cute animals wear typical pirate crew attire, but the Jolly Roger is made more kid-friendly with a fuzzy bear face replacing the usual skull. Arrr!
Unlike pirates, Hatley Nature believes in social responsibility. The Hatley team is sensitive to Our Environment during their manufacturing processes and donates to great causes like Raincoats for Kids and Give Breast Cancer the Boot.
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