Summer is here and we're enjoying warm weather even in the north! The bravest of us have already dipped in the lakes and tiny kiddie pools have appeared in the backyards. It means it's time to find the perfect swimsuit! 

When the sun is warming up the minds and the bodies and gives us energy to carry on with our days, you still have to keep sun safety in mind. Both children and adults need to be protected from the sun, even on the cloudy days or cooler: the UV rays are still doing their damage, not minding the temperature or the grayness of the day. The skin on kids' and adults is a bit different and keeping the kids' protected is essential. UV-damage tends to build up from year to year, so minimizing the exposure as a child has a positive effect for years to come. Children's skin is also less developed, so the protective mechanisms are not ready for full sun exposure.  

There are many ways to protect the skin from sun damage and there are some ways that work better than others. Considering the UV-levels are the highest around 11 am to 3 pm, it's best to ether stay indoors or in shaded areas - remember to protect the skin even in the shade! The easiest way to keep the kids' protected is clothing, of which some loose cotton or cotton blends tend to be the best options. Keeping the head and the face covered with a brimmed hat or a cap is also important. At the beach or the pool a UV protective swimming suit is the best choice! 

Wheter you are spending some family beach time or the kids are enjoying in a pool, the amount of sun exposure is vast and often swimwear tends to be the only clothing item. The skin should be properly protected with a suncream. For a baby a set of covering clothes and being in the shade is the best option, but for older kids there are a lot of great solutions. When choosing a suncream that will be used on kids', look for "made for children" tags that ensure safer formulas. The higher the SPF is the better, and you want to make sure that the cream has both UVA-and UVB protection. Remember to add the cream on the skin around 30 minutes before going outside and keep adding every few hours - suncreams are not protective for ever and often it gets ether diluted by swimming, we sweat it out or rub it on towels. A good amount of suncream on a child is 20-30 ml or 7-10 fluid ounces.  

To minimize the need for suncream, choose a UV protective swimsuit for the kids. Long sleeves and a lot of fabric is always the easiest option, covering as much as possible.

All of our Gugguu swimsuits have an SPF 50. The protection is based on the denseness of the fabric, not a chemical process. In the spring 2020 we brought out new designs of the swimsuits: UV Swimsuit and UV Swimsuitdress. Both of the designs come with the option to choose from fresh colors or fun prints. Both of the swimsuits cover a lot of ground: long sleeves cover the arms, the back and the tummy are protected and in the UV Swimsuit you can find pantlegs up to the kenees. 

Why choose a UV-protective swimsuit? Kids' don't often love suncream, so when you have a protective swimsuit that covers a lot of skin, you have to apply less cream.The suit already covers up the areas that burn the easiest, like the shoulders, so you can put your mind at rest!

Check out all of our swimsuits in here.

Gugguu spring and summer season get's spiced up with the warm Safari Collection. This collection brings you to the beaches with hot sand between your toes, wild grass swishing in the warm, mellow wind and heat that can only be cooled by a generous serving of ice-cream. Warm, muted tones combine beautifully to the adorable prints. 

Within the collection you can find completely new designs. We introduced a T-shirt version of our beloved Frilla Dress in the Play Collection. This can now be found as a patterned version too. Kaila Dress, previously made from the thicker soft college-material you find in our hoodies, got a little sister from Kaila Jersey Dress that's made from a lighter tricot jersey. Bluebell T-shirt reminds the top of the new Bluebell Dress from the Play Collection - half sleeves and a round neckline make this T-shirt the perfect match with the lovely Print Culottes pants.

Accessorize the outfit with a lovely Bow hairband or the new Scrunchie Scarf, You can tie the scarf section to a bow or let it flow through the hair. 

While the spring is here and the nature starts waking up, we're already looking forward to the summer days at the beach. In preparation for the beach trips, make sure that the swimsuits for the little ones are protective - we launched a couole long sleeved swimsuit designs that help to keep the skin covered from the sun all day long without suncream on the areas the suit covers. All of our swimsuits have a SPF 50 protection that is based on the fabric density - not a chemical protection.

Safari Collection includes seven colors…

Ocean

Blue Moon

Summer Sky

Spicy Red

Sandstone

Cantaloupe

Latte

...and five prints. 

Hummingbirds

Safari Ride

Red Ornament

Puppies

Noble Cats

The patterns are all animal themed, with creatures from all over the world. Humminbirds are flying amongst orange flowers in the Hummingbirds print. Safari Ride is a literal safari ride in a pattern - tiger cubs, antilopes and other wild animals live their life in this pattern. Red Ornament is a stunning warm toned graphic pattern inspired by mandalas. Safari Collection has two adorable hand-drawn prints: Noble Cats and Puppies. Cute baby leopards-and tigers play around in Noble Cats. Puppies is a black and white print of puppies napping.

Check out Safari Collection here.

Gugguu Spring/Summer season starts with the fun Play Collection. This spring is kicked off with adorable pastel colors and the cutest animal inspired prints.

The collection has been inspired by summer moments, like ice cream kiosks, little dalmatian puppies playing on the grass and adventures in candyland. The bright colors are combined to calmer shades of white and black and fun prints, making the collection filled with combination possibilities!

The prints this spring are focused on animals and you can find different themes of animal life in different prints. In the fun black-and-white print you can see zebras and pandas playing around, in the blue toned print we take a look at sea animals. The pink print includes mockingbirds flying amidst flowers. In the dotted print you see little dalmatian puppies playing, with a splash of color from summery flowers. The lightest print has the dreamiest unicorns and delicate, pink and lilac toned flowers.

The Play Collection includes a wide variety of clothing for spring and summer, including outerwear. The first launch includes all jersey and tricot products.

The Collection includes a few new products. Rizi dress has gained popularity after sneak peeks in social media. It’s a tricot dress with adorable frilly shoulder detailing and an A-line skirt. The belowed Wow Dress is getting a little sister - a short sleeved model of the dress is perfect for the warm summer days. The all new Bluebell Dress is a simple and cute tricot jersey dress with ½ sleeve, round neckline and an A-line skirt.

The collection includes seven colors...

Black

Bluebell

Peppermint

Lavender

Bubble Gum

Banana

White Candy 

...and five prints.

Summer Dream

Dots & Spots

Pink Hummingbirds

Sea Life

Baby Animals

You can find all the Play Collection products here!

Within the Mini Me Collection we introduced a new material to our selection: a tracksuit material made out of 100% recycled raw materials. There are two types of tracksuit fabric in the collection - the printed version and the mono colored version. The fabrics are made of recycled polyester, recycled nylon and recycled elastane. In this blog post we will be going through the materials in more depth. We will also be sharing the different types of certificates the fabrics have and their requirements.

Materials

The printed track jackets- and pants are made of a mixture of polyester and elastane. The mono colored ones are made of a mixture of nylon and elastane. 

The finishing processes and the dying of the materials is also done in nature-friendly manners. The goal throughout the whole production is to keep the production process as neutral for the nature as possible and that the end products are truly safe to use.

Recycled elastane

Both the printed and the mono colored fabrics use recycled elastane. The elastane we use has been recycled in Germany and it’s GRS-certified. The thread is born by collecting the industrial surplus of elastane thread, separating them from the paper tubes and by spinning them again. This process helps to reduce the amount of industrial waste and gets the perfectly fine materials into active use. The process has also been optimized for a low need for water by creating a water flow system that uses the same water over and over again. 

Recycled polyester

The recycled polyester used in the printed track jackets- and pants is made of recycled PET-plastic that is gathered from used plastic bottles. The material is GRS-certified. For every kilo of PET, three kilos of CO2 is saved. Along with this, the production saves approximately half of the amount of energy compared to a non-recycled version. The coloring and finishing processes are done during the spinning process, which is a more nature friendly option compared to traditional processes. 

Creating thread from a plastic bottle is surprisingly simple. The bottles are collected and cut into pieces. After this the plastic is grinded and melted, and then cooled into regular shaped pieces. After this the material is melted again and made into polyester fibers that are then spinned into thread.

Recycled nylon

The recycled nylon used in the track jackets- and pants is SCS Global Standard- and GRS certified. 

The recycled nylon comes from Spain. It’s made out of industrial surplus by spinning the nylon polymers into thread. This lowers the CO2 impact by 53% and decreases the amount of industrial waste created. 1000 kilos of recycled nylon decreases the CO2 impact by 1424 kilos, which is roughly the amount of driving 8544 km.

Certificates

Global Recycled Standard - GRS

GRS-certificate is an international standard that requires certain things both in the production system, in the product itself and also in the company policies. The requirements are to do with recycling, the amount of recycled materials in products, chemical limitation and the ethics of the  production process. 

The certificate can be applied, if the product at hand contains at least 50% recycled materials. This is not the only requirement - the whole company is looked at through the working conditions, social responsibility and the environmental hazard minimizing acts of the company. The companies and products receiving the certificate are followed through out even after receiving the certificate and the certification are valid for one year at a time.

SCS Global Standard

SCS Global Standard is a party that follows environmental friendliness of many industries and product types. The nylon used in the track jackets- and pants is on SCS Global Standardin certified, so SCS Global Standard has gone through the whole production process and found the processes to meet its standards. The standards are high: the transparency of the production, the sourcing, the products age, the usability of the product, company recycling and waste management systems - and many more.

The Bluesign® system

The Bluesign® system is an environmental party that functions in the textile industry. The Bluesign® system certifies products and companies based on their efforts on creating textile products with the lowest possible environmental impact. The Bluesign® is an active environmental advocate, that supports textile companies on their way to more environmentally friendly production processes. The company manufacturing the fabrics used in our track jackets and track pants is a The Bluesign® system partner and they actively co-operate with the organization.

In this blog post we tell you a bit more of one of our staple materials: merino wool. The merino wool Gugguu uses comes from New Zealand and it is sheared in Germany and it’s completely mulesing-free.

In this article you will find information on merino wool, such as:

• What is merino wool?
• What makes merino wool special?
• How to take care of merino wool products?

What is merino wool?

Merino wool is a specific wool from Merino sheep, grown especially in Australia and New Zealand. Merino sheep are highly valued - the wool has been highly appreciated for centuries and for a good reason. 

What makes merino wool special?

Merino wool fibres are exceptionally fine and soft - the fibers are longer and thinner compared to traditional wool from sheep. The fibers are great for kids - merino wool is often more tolerated with people who find other types of wool, such as traditional wool and mohair, itchy. It feels more like cotton, but it contains the great features of wool.

Merino wool is a great material for the winter conditions: the little air pockets in the wool hold on to air and keep you warm. If you sweat, the heat is absorbed an let go by the merino wool, so the fabric breathes. This ensures that if you sweat or get wet in a cold environment, you still keep warm!

Merino wool also includes antimicrobial properties, thanks to the keratin and lanolin found in the wool. This combined with the breathability of the material makes sure that your clothes and accessories made of merino wool stay smelling fresh even if you sweat in them.

How to take care of merino wool products?

Merino wool should be conditioned with love - so no harsh chemicals and rough procedures are advised.

Taking care merino wool is easy, just keep in mind these few rules!

1. No washing machine. We advise to not use a washing machine when washing Gugguu merino wool products, but instead to wash them by hand. You should use lukewarm water because hot water might shrink wool products. Don’t soak for a long time.
2. Detergents. Do not use fabric softeners or products containing bleaching ingredients. These ingredients affect the fibers negatively and take away some of the great benefits of merino wool. Do use a mild detergent. 
3. Do not dumble dry. Prefer air drying, away from direct sunlight and heat.
4. Reshape products while damp.
5. Iron on low if needed.

With these simple rules you can have your merino wool products stay looking and feeling beautiful for years, enjoying all the great benefits of using merino wool!

Gugguu Wild Animals Collection 2019

The first drops of Gugguu AW19 is getting company - the new Wild animals- collection continues with the earthy colors and prints inspired by the Finnish forests. Alongside with the previous rich tones of oranges and browns, we are introducing stunning berry-tones and frosty blues - the color scheme is like from a fairytale! As we go to winter, the frostbitten lingonberries and light first snow on top of the last wild raspberries have been the inspiration behind this collection. 

You can now spot the bravest and the most beautiful wild life of the Finnish nature in different scenarios; the strong and powerful bears with their tiny cubs, wolves howling in the night and the wide-eyed deers surrounded by the wise owls of the woods. 

The Wild Animals- collections includes college- and tricot products, a print collection and all of our classic merino wool accessories. 

The stunning college products have all been made with a brand new soft jersey knit material, that feels amazingly soft on the skin. The tricot collection includes a whopping two new designs: a long sleeved version of Rizi and a tricot version of the beloved Kaila shirt. Both of the new products are perfect to combine with the new printed leggings!

The collection has five colors...

• Stormy Sea                  
• Cloud Blue
• Rhododendron
• Rose Wine
• Coral Blush

...and four prints.

• Magic Forest
• Sweet flowers
• Nightfall
• Honey Paw

Check out the full collection by clicking here!

The spookiest season is here - Halloween! We at Gugguu are celebrating the All Hallows' Day with a special Halloween-themed collection filled with inspiring orange and black colors and eerie designs for the little ones. Along with our special collection we invited Gugguu customers to our showroom in Pirkkala, Finland, to see the collection and enjoy some lovely autumnal treats.

Battie shirt

The special Halloween collection was inspired by a true need - the fall is filled with chilling dress-up parties at schools and daycares, with little witches and ghosts running around. These parties require dressing up, but many parents long for outfits that can be easily transformed into clothes for everyday life or holiday parties long after Halloween - after all, many of our closets and cupboards are already filled to the brim and we want to discourage throw-away culture with our actions. The Halloween collection has been made of surplus materials ensuring the most ecological processes possible. 

Kitty-hoodie

The Gugguu Halloween collection is a fun, orange and black collection with wicked detailing. 

The tulle dress is the perfect outfit for little witches, combined to a witches hat of course, but it can be easily transformed into a beautiful dress for Christmas or to the sparkle of New Year’s Eve! 

A cat is a classic in the dress-ups of the autumnal festivities. The Kitty Jumpsuit is a terrific option for a cat outfit - finish off the outfit with a face paint whiskers and the little kitty is ready for the celebrations! Don’t forget to keep the hood on to show off the cat ears. After Halloween you can simply use the jumpsuit as an indoors outfit.

Kitty Jumpsuit

The whole team of Gugguu wishes you a spooky Halloween!

GUGGUU FALL/WINTER 2019

The Gugguu fall and winter collection 2019 is filled with earthy, rich colors that together with warmer, softer shades embody the essence of a forest during the most beautiful time of the autumnal season. This is where the inspiration for this collection has been drawn from: the colorful leaves and the foggy, crispy mornings. 

Frilla-dress in Sky Blue ja Print Frilladress in the print Fall Pampas.

The earthy colors remind the last moments of fall, when the nature gets prepared for the upcoming winter and spends the last moments in the glory of brightly colored red, orange and brown leaves and berries. These colors are well-matched with pine cone brown, the dark emerald green of moss and dark blue of the night sky. 

Go'on Bomber // Print Flow skirt // Cube Baggy

Unisex body 62-74 cm // Unisex body 80-86 cm 

The beautiful prints pair with the colors perfectly and they match together in many possible ways. The print collection has been strongly inspired by nature in all of it's beauty - Pampasgrass, owls and foggy landscapes paint a beautiful picture of the fall season. You can find the rich prints in many color schemes, all the way from the soft Harvest Vibes to the darker scenery of Night Forest.

Go'On Bomber in Sky Blue // Print Flow skirt in Fall Pampas