When I first heard the story of Laure de la Baume, and what she is creating for children, I immediately remembered how many times I got sunburned at the beach as a kid. No matter how much cream and hats my mom would put on me, my skin would still get irritated. By the end of the long summer, my skin would have peeled more than once. My blonde cousins would even be in even worse shape. Luckily that wouldn’t ruin our beach days that I still remember very cheerfully. I don’t think my skin would agree, but that is another story.
No long ago, Laure de la Baume, a French expatriate living in South America, debuted her own sun protecting clothing line for kids called Sun-Fi.
The idea of creating Sun-Fi came up while living in Buenos Aires. “It was a very hot summer day. My son Balthazar was only 4 months old. In Argentina the sun is even stronger as the ozone layer is thinner due to the fact that the country is relatively close to Antarctica. We went for strolls only before noon or after 4pm and he would be wearing a hat, but no sunscreen, since it is not recommended for children six months old or younger. That afternoon we came back home from a play date at the park, and Balthazar was pink. Not the cute pink that comes from running around and playing, but his first sunburn. After treating him with aloe vera – an absolute must have for babies - I went online to look for some cute stylish and sun protective children clothing. Unfortunately, all I could find was flashy and bright designs, which claimed to be sun safe, but were mostly coated with loads of chemicals. I thought there was definitely something to do about that.”
She couldn't quite find what she wanted in stores for her kids. She claims “children’s sun protective clothing today is still a niche, and is mostly worn at the beach or by the pool.”
Clothing with sun protection or UPF50+ (ultraviolet protection factor of 50+) is made with fabrics that block at least 98% of the suns harmful rays UVA & UVB.
There are two very different ways on how a fabric can block out so much sun. The first and highly chemical way is to bathe any fabric in a strong chemical such as Titanium since it blocks out the sun. So it is not the fabric that blocks the sun but the chemicals, which by the way, wear out with laundry and use.
Keep in mind also, the way fabric is made: tiny fibers woven or knitted together. Some fabrics have lots of spaces between the fiber - only visible under a microscope - allowing the sun’s UV to pass directly through these holes and reach the skin; it is the case with cotton or linen, which have very low protection factors of only UPF5.
Other fabrics are so tightly woven that they allow much less of the sun’s harmful rays to go through. And that is what Laure de la Baume offers, by using only the highest tightly woven fabrics and without any added chemicals, she is creating children’s clothing that block out 98% of the sun’s harmful rays, dry or wet, and free of unnatural, and possibly harmful materials.
Sun-Fi is more than just beach wear and not limited to use by the pool, it’s playful and stylish children’s clothes with the highest sun protection to be worn beyond the beach and into everyday life.”
Although she produces in Buenos Aires, thanks to the internet she is selling her clothing worldwide through her website sun-fi.com
An advocate against tanning, Laure laughs at the big myths around getting a tan, “people think it has slimming effects! In reality, tanning can create wrinkles that make you look older (and poses serious health risks)." I cannot agree more.