Ste. Geneviéve, Missouri-based Chérubin has taken their love for little ones and crafted a company that creates handmade leather baby moccasins in a variety of adorable colors, prints and sizes. We caught up with the team behind this Midwest company to learn a bit more about their inspiration and process.
What was the inspiration behind creating unique children’s moccasins?
Chérubin is a brand-new division of a company that’s been doing exquisite work with leather goods for over 30 years. We are always looking for ways to expand our product lines and knew that baby moccasins were hot right now. We had deep talent with our in-house craftspeople and connections with the best leather suppliers, which means we are uniquely capable of creating adorable moccasins that are of higher quality and craftsmanship than anything available. And we’re able to keep them affordable because we make them ourselves and sell them directly through our website.
How did Christine Hoog & Trenna Travis discover one another and decide to create the Chérubin brand?
Christine and Trenna are both creative souls and crossed paths as the concept for the moccasins was being developed. Trenna is an exceptional designer who has experience with textiles, styling, and photography. Together, they worked to launch the inaugural collections that are destined to become company classics, covering a gamut of designs that wrap sweet little feet in style.
What are the roots of the name Cherubin?
Chérubin (pronounced CHAIR uh bin) is the French word for little angel. We’re in Sainte Geneviéve, Missouri and used our town’s heritage as our inspiration. We think the name perfectly embodies the sweet style of our moccasins, which are made by hand with great attention to detail.
What cultural ties does Cherubin have to the historical French settlement Ste. Geneviéve?
The settlement of Sainte Geneviéve is nearly 300 years old, and that history and culture permeates everything we do. We’ve had generations of local craftspeople from the same families creating our products. And you can see the French influences in everything from our name to the little fleur-de-lis stamped on the heel of each moccasin.
Aside from the current collections, what other collections are you looking to release?
The next collection we’re releasing is “It’s My Party”, which is fun and feminine. We’ll likely do a classic holiday moccasin before the end of the year and are working on a partnership with a nationally-known designer for early 2017.
Have you ever thought about expanding the brand to contain other products?
We get requests from adults all the time to make our moccasins in their size! But no, right now we’re focusing on growing the brand and making the best little moccasins out there.
Photos courtesy of Cherubin.