More than Children's Bonnets and Durags: A New Look

We've been making changes. Little Rootz is primarily known as a Children's Bonnet and Durag line; however, a long-term goal of mine is to develop the company into much more than that. We identify as a Durag website or a Children's Bonnet website, but we're shifting to introduce additional items representing children from all backgrounds. For this reason, we're constantly evolving and implementing new looks and feels.

In saying that, our Children's Durag and Bonnet brand continues to grow and adapt over time. What that looks like is expanding product categories to include clothing, different hair accessories, and even home goods. We are still trying to uncover our brand style and "perfect" things, and something that has constantly evolved is our brand logo. The logo must reflect Bonnets and Durags and the different product categories we will offer. 

Satin Durags, Only.

When we launched in late 2020, we were known as "Waves on Swim," as we started primarily as a Satin Durag line. Our offering was limited to high-quality satin durags for toddlers and younger-aged children. During this time, there were many places where you could buy a durag but none specifically for Toddlers or younger children. The few that existed were not of quality and offered only a limited selection of durags styles specifically for children. As a parent in the market for a Satin Durag, you would only be able to choose between 2-3 colors or designs that aren't representative of children's interests. I was one of these parents and therefore decided to create a solution and become one of many durag stores but very niched as we only served younger ages. As I aimed to introduce patterns representative of children's interests, I veered away from developing the traditional black silky durag. I introduced our first print, the "My Hero" pattern. Our "My Hero" pattern features six Black and Brown superheroes with various hairstyles familiar to our community. 

Where are the Children's Bonnets? 

The initial debut of our Satin Durags unexpectedly created a lot of buzz. Many people began to inquire about when I would develop Children's Bonnets. Developing Satin Bonnets never crossed my mind, but due to increasing requests, I further developed the "My Hero" print for Children's Bonnets. In addition to other things, this expansion made me realize that "Waves on Swim" wasn't fitting for the brand's longevity. We were now catering to more than just waves and fades, we now were offering a product that includes a multitude of protective hairstyles, so we needed a name to reflect that. 

Now offering Bonnets and Durags.

Little Rootz was born. The name "Little Rootz" meant many different things to me. For one, it felt like it highlighted that we are a Children's Brand. Additionally, the term "Rootz" ties into being a haircare brand and a brand targeted at Children of Brown and Black communities. Little Rootz combatted any restrictions we faced with "Waves on Swim ."Admittedly "Waves on Swim" was a bit saturated; the wave community is so expansive that we were getting bogged down by all the content the community creates daily. Little Rootz allows us to explore any product category, not just Children's Durag and Bonnets, and we plan on doing that.

More than a Durags Website.

With the introduction of Satin Bonnets, we became more than a durags website in addition to our new name. There were a lot of choppy transitions, resulting in a temporary logo and a modified site. Knowing that too much change would confuse people, I wanted a simplistic approach, especially intending to develop new products further. Understanding this, I sought to modify the logo to something that could blend seamlessly with current and future product offerings. I needed a logo that would look well on the product and packaging, blending seamlessly. Our new logo does just this and will adapt to the color of any color background/fabric. We wanted to remain intentional about how our logo showed on our products, especially since our products are so graphic-focused.

An Icon is Born.

In addition to a new logo, it has become necessary to introduce an icon. This icon would allow for a more seamless branding regarding small items. Think hair bows, swimming caps, wave caps, etc. Items that don't have much space for medium/larger size tags. We decided on a hand + smiley face icon. The hand can represent many things, one of them being community. The smiley face because we are a Children's brand. We need to keep it lively. We have developed four new logos within less than two years, including the new icon. Rest assured, these are necessary changes

We hope you enjoy the new changes and products we implement throughout the year, as overall, it'll create a better brand and experience. You can find future brand announcements and updates by exploring our "Brand Announcement" blog category.