Sophie la Girafe celebrates 53

From 23-25 May, to celebrate French Mother’s Day and also its 53rd birthday, cult children’s brand Sophie la Girafe will open a pop-up store at 29 rue Notre-Dame de Nazareth in Paris. The store will host three days of events and workshops for mothers and babies, for which women can sign up at a dedicated internet site, les-momans-sophielagirafe.com (Sophie the Giraffe Mommies). Workshops cover the three themes of play, food and sleep.

The firm will also use the event for the French launch of its new Ecocert-certified baby range, produced by Finnish natural cosmetics firm Alva Organics. The range includes a 200ml hair and body wash, 50ml face cream, 50ml protection cream, 150ml body lotion, 150ml bubble bath and the latest additions to the range: 200ml baby oil and 150ml cleansing cream. There is also a starter kit with 20ml sizes of the face cream, body lotion, baby oil and hair and body wash. Prices for individual products depend on the stockist: from £11.99 at Ocado, but more in the range of £22.95 at Harrods.

"We already sell the range in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and UK – with retailers such as Harrods, Selfridges, Alexandalexa.com – to mention a few,” Jonna Jalkanen, CEO and co-founder of Alva Organics, told Cosmetic News Weekly. “We will launch the range in around 15 countries during 2014 and expand to around 40 countries during 2015.”

The Sophie la Girafe toy is sold in more than 60 countries, said Jalkanen. “Our target is to sell the skin care in all the same countries within four to five years.”