About Chocolatine
Chocolatine’s collections are designed and created by French native Nathalie Gras. As a young mother, Nathalie searched for clothes “with a French touch” to dress her beautiful daughter Elena. Besides French name brands that cost a fortune in the U.S., Nathalie couldn’t find what she was looking for: beautiful, high quality, classy yet comfortable and fashionable clothing at a reasonable price.
One day, Nathalie took her sewing machine and started to make the clothes she dreamed of for her daughter. She started embellishing her daughter’s basics, such as her onesies and her t-shirts, by sewing fabric appliqués to them and adding text in French to describe what they represented. It was an instant hit; they were simply so beautiful that her friends began to ask her to make clothes for their babies too. Chocolatine was born!
At Chocolatine, a strong emphasis is placed on beautiful fabric, handpicked in France and in the United States, natural fibers, good design, and finish. Since all items are handmade, fabric pattern placement may vary slightly. In addition, each piece will teach a French word or two!
But what exactly is a Chocolatine?… Chocolatine is the name given to chocolate croissants in Southwest France and in Quebec. Consisting of a cuboid-shaped piece of light and flaky yeast-leavened dough, it contains a strip of “chocolat” that melts in the mouth. French “Mamans” buy them warm at the local “boulangeries” for their little ones, who typically eat them coming back from school as an afternoon snack called “le goûter.”
Chocolatine’s Ethics and Commitments:
At Chocolatine, we believe that honest, truthful and fair treatment of customers, suppliers and employees is what should drive the company, therefore, we are doing our best to provide the best quality products and the best customer service while making a profit.
We are also absolutely against the idea of unfair treatment of workers, forced labor, child labor, and anything that deprives a person of human dignity.
If we should become aware that any of the blank clothing we buy and sew on, are produced under any of those conditions we would refuse to continue selling it. Moreover, our suppliers are actively involved in promoting fair trade clothing sewing in Bolivia and Indonesia. In Bolivia, the money goes straight to the workers, with no “middle man”. In Indonesia, the workers have fair pay and quite good benefits. Clothing that is made for them in India - they have been reassured that the company importing it sends someone to the factories frequently, making sure there are no violations of the human rights contracts each factory has signed and that the workers have fair wages and benefits.
Our suppliers provide both free cataract surgery for the poor and financially supports open heart surgeries for poor indigenous children in Bolivia.
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