Up-and-coming Eagle Rock has become the L.A. neighborhood where Silver Lake renters move to buy homes and start families. And at Lisa McDaniel and Natasha Walsh's Rockin' Baby Shop, local kids can look just as cool as their parents. The duo ― Walsh is a Hollywood costumer and McDaniel is a script supervisor ― met 12 years ago when their husbands were working on a video game. While hanging out with their young sons one day, they discovered a common baby-gift lament. "We're a little vain," Walsh says, laughing. "Yeah, we like fashionable things," McDaniel explains. "And the baby blue sling I got made me feel like I was wearing a big neck brace," Walsh related.
So the two hatched a plan for a line of stylish baby carriers. Their unisex hands-free sling ― with fashion-forward trimmings like orange zebra stripes and silver studs ― was a hit with moms and celebs (Angelina Jolie bought two).
The friends opened their lime green and pink-starred boutique last May, stocking it with their carriers plus tiny motorcycle jackets, boldly patterned pj's, and pop-art onesies with sayings like d is for disco. They're bumping up store sizes to a kids' 10 this spring. "And we're thinking about maternity clothes down the line," McDaniel says. "But right now we're working on getting our sea legs ― we're still figuring things out." And, Walsh adds, "going a mile a minute."
INFO: Rockin' Baby Shop, 5048 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles; 888/645-2229
