World Goes Ga-Ga at Glimpse of Royal Swaddle
World glimpses young prince's swaddle, goes ga-ga.
Aug. 5, 2013 -- Within hours of infant Prince George's being spotted sporting a dashing swaddle, a baby-mad world went searching for the blanket's maker, found it, swamped it with orders, and crashed its servers.
The company is aden + anais of Brooklyn, N.Y. The prince's jaunty bird-print blanket is part of the Jungle Jam Swaddle Classic Muslin Collection, a 4-pack of which ordinarily retails for $49.95.
Now is not an ordinary moment.
Over 10,000 orders poured in almost at once, says company founder-CEO Raegan Moya-Jones, after George was photographed leaving the hospital in swaddling. "It was pretty instant, from the moment that he made his debut," she tells ABC News. "Within an hour we were getting slammed. Our servers crashed within the first four hours, and again the following day."
The item currently is out of stock. She expects a rush order of another 10,000 to arrive by the end of August. Until then, she suggests, swaddle-seekers could try to find a store that still might have a few of the prince's preferred bird-pattern left in stock. (The company's website has a list of retailers.)
ROYAL BABY MERCHANDISE BONANZA
Buyers' other option would be to choose from among the many other patterns on her website, all of which are its functional equivalent. That's the strategy, she implies, the royal parents themselves may employ:
"The Palace has been in touch with me for other designs," she tells ABC. "I cannot say what they are. We don't want to create another frenzy. The Duchess has bought into the product and the brand--not just that particular print."
Her understanding is that Kate bought the blanket herself, on a stop in a London boutique. "We are absolutely honored the Duchess chose our product. We didn't push it on her or send it. The royal family is not allowed to accept any gift from any business. They have to buy them themselves."
For those not up on swaddling, the aden + anais website explains that the practice requires nothing more than a large blanket made of light, breathable material, such as muslin, and "two loving hands." Swaddling, it says, helps babies sleep. According to Moya-Jones, it has been common for generations in her native Australia. Her grandmother and her mother did it.
When, however, Moya-Jones came to the U.S. and went to start a family of her own., she could not find proper swaddling. The blankets available were either too heavy, too thick, or too restrictive. She started aden + anais to bridge the swaddle-gap.
She calls all the publicity she has received "an absolute blessing--nothing but positive. As a small business, to get this global press? How do you put a price on that! Not in a million years would I have expected the future king of England to come out in one of our swaddles."
