Fort Worth Children’s Clothing Brand Celebrates 10 Years By Growing Up — Lila and Hayes Continues to Go Big

When Amanda Galati and Paige Casey began talking about starting a clothing line 10 years ago, they never dreamed they’d experience the kind of growth and success that their clothing brand Lila and Hayes has garnered. What began as a home trunk show in Fort Worth and local trade show brand featuring primarily baby and children’s pajamas has blossomed into a wide-ranging children and adults line. All in cozy pima cotton with neat prints and personalized monogramming.

Lila and Hayes can now be found in more than 175 boutiques around the country (most in the South), and on the sites of several well-known online retailers such as Maisonette and The Tot.

“After doing pop-ups, and gift shows for about three years, we felt confident enough in our brand to take it to Dallas Market Center,” co-owner Paige Casey tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “Lila and Hayes got into 25 stores that first season.

“Our inspiration came from interior design, which we then translated into prints.” The duo have become self-taught print designers.

The classic, even slightly preppy prints, are mostly tiny and symmetrical designs. Though they have been growing in recent years with the need for a bit bolder and more Instagram-able impact. Lila and Hayes does not rely on slogans and branding, but its founders do love custom monogramming.

Pro tip: If you are planning to gift monogrammed Lila and Hayes fashions this holiday season, you need to place those orders by December 9.

“As our babies grew out of infant sizes, we just couldn’t find the same quality of soft sweet stuff that we were used to,” co-founder Amanda Galati notes. “My daughter Lila and Paige’s son Hayes were 1-year-olds when we began, now they are 12. Our brand has expanded as our children have grown.”

For the first five years, Galati  and Casey served as Lila and Hayes’ two sole employees. In 2017, they hired their first outside employee and joined other women-founded entrepreneurs as some of the co-founders of the popular LOCAL Design Studios. Lila and Hayes share the Fort Worth co-working and gallery space with C+B Furs, Kori Green, Clearly Handbags, RM Rynd Interior Design, CITY Boots, Fort 52 and The Bow Next Door.

LOCAL is open to the public on Wednesdays from 10 am to 3 pm for in-person shopping.

With the astounding wholesale and direct-to-consumer growth it has experienced, Lila and Hayes has outgrown its office and warehouse space at LOCAL, and have now relocated their corporate and distribution center down the road to  5346 Vickery Boulevard, which is near the Eskimo Hut.

Now flanked by a team of 17 employees, Casey and Galatri will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Lila and Hayes with close friends, family and loyal customers this Thursday, December 1st at the new headquarters.

The brand’s online presence now includes a full line of accessories (sunglass, jewelry, even doll clothes), in addition to some favorite finds like Glasshouse candles, TRVL bags and backpacks, along with Honey + Hank tea towels and Vineglace wine chillers.

“We started as picky moms looking for pima cotton pajamas and it just kept growing and growing over the years,” Casey says. “Ten years is a big milestone, and as working moms, juggling many hats, Amanda and I just decided, ‘Let’s go big or go home.’ ”