Ami Paris launches into childrenswear
French ready-to-wear brand Ami Paris is expanding its offering with the creation of its first-ever childrenswear line, named Ami Kids. The new range reflects the company's desire to translate its classic wardrobe for a new audience, drawing on the values of conviviality central to its identity.
Designed as a unisex wardrobe, the collection is a continuation of the Ami de Cœur line, which features the brand's well-known logo of a capital 'A' topped with a heart. In a statement, the brand specified its preference for natural materials like cotton and wool. The range is based on Ami Paris's signature shades of grey, beige, green, navy blue, light blue and black, occasionally highlighted with a classic striped pattern.
The brand's management emphasised that this initiative is intended to be “a return to childhood, friendship and the freedom to be oneself”.
This announcement follows the opening of a new Ami store in the capital last June, its 116th worldwide. Located at four Place des Victoires, it opened opposite the brand's headquarters. When questioned by FashionUnited, the brand stated that its financial momentum is “globally positive and growing”, particularly in China.
Ami received its first external investment in 2012 from Bpifrance's state-supported Mode et Finance fund, as a recent Vogue Business article recalled. This investment was followed by a funding round led by the Neo fund. Sequoia Capital China (now Hongshan) then became a shareholder, followed by Felix Capital.
In 2025, there were rumours about Hongshan's departure. When asked about the matter by FashionUnited, Nicolas Santi-Weil, CEO of Ami Paris, stated: “It is natural that after almost five years, and with an investment that has more than paid off, they are starting to think about their exit”.
During successive funding rounds, the founders established shareholder agreements to retain operational and creative control, as Vogue Business explains. “You don't need 80 percent, or even 51 percent of the shares to protect your brand,” Santi-Weil explained to the publication. “Control comes from the shareholder agreement. Alexandre [Mattiussi, the founder,] has complete creative freedom, and we are very clear about which decisions are ours to make.”
In terms of turnover, France is currently the brand's largest European market and its fourth-largest global market, behind China, Japan and South Korea.