You won’t catch Austin or Hunter Wallace wearing nerdy, baby blue, fuzzy-footed pajamas with cartoon character designs. These kids have an image to maintain, even at bedtime, thanks to visual designer mom, Jennifer Wallace, and rocker dad, Jimbo Wallace, the bassist for local-gone-big rockabilly band Reverend Horton Heat. Jennifer Wallace and her friend Amy Stecklein (also a visual designer whose children Ella and Nate stay camera-ready cute day and night) started a trendsetting children’s clothing line shortly after realizing that even in fashion-forward California, where they shopped during a Horton Heat tour, they were unable to find little pajamas that fit the kids’ punk-inspired daytime wardrobe. Returning to their Lakewood-area homes after the LA trip, the women created Hip On Sunset, a line of mostly black sleepwear decorated in color-spiked edgy designs, any of which might easily double as a band member’s tattoo. Every garment bears a unique message on back for it’s wearer: “Someday I’ll have my own rock show”, reads one; and another, “I’ll splash in magical waters”. The models’ thoughts on their new duds? “My 8-year old thinks he’s a ninja because of the dark colors,” Wallace says, “and my 2-year-old says ‘mommy made’ in the same way he says ‘I made’ when he brings a craft home from school.” Hip on Sunset sells predominately in California stores to date, but Wallace and Stecklein are working hard to infiltrate more Dallas-area shops.
To nab a set of these fashion forward nightclothes, head to Bebe Grand in the Lakewood Shopping Center. For more information, visit hiponsunset.com.
