Fashion, but Make it Accessible

"Melbourne’s Jessica Barathy has a history in glossy mags and fashion – and it shows. Even in its early days, this graphic artist’s adaptable clothing brand, Growing Tots, makes a beautiful impression. And her first product – a cotton undergarment for gastrostomy fed youngsters, created in collaboration with health professionals – makes its debut this week. 

“I launched the social platform before I launched the product because I wanted to create a safe space where families could come together, relate and learn about me and my story,” Jessica tells The Blend. 

The now freelance creative got her start on the pages of Dolly and Cleo magazine before working with Aussie fashion royalty, Bec + Bridge, and then becoming a parent.

Growing Tots was inspired by its founder’s two-year-old daughter, who has a gastrostomy tube. Jessica also has a four-year-old son and, in a very new development, a four-month-old baby girl. 

“I was never personally involved in any tube-feeding communities because, as a mum, I just wasn’t ready,” says Jessica. “But this business has allowed me to find my own community – and a safe space where I can now help others.”

Here, she shares some of her daughter’s tube-feeding story and how, through Growing Tots, she hopes to bring more connection and comfort to families like her own...."

Read our first write up by theblendmag.com, now featured in family stories.