Our Story
manitoulinsturtlecreek
Here at manitoulinsturtlecreek, we specialise in quality ethical kids clothes that make the world a happier place. All of our clothing is made from GOTS certified organic cotton, produced in a more sustainable, respectful and fairer system.
We've hunted out a great range of Scandinavian brands who share our love of fun ethical clothes that let kids get on with their adventures. You can find Duns of Sweden, More than a FLING, Fräulein Prusselise, Moromini, Loud + Proud, Maxomorra, JNY, Little Green Radicals, Smäfolk, Merle, Naperonuttu, Paapii, and Fjällräven.
We also stock hard-wearing rainwear from Muddy Puddles. This bright, fun range of outdoor gear will protect the busiest young adventurer from the NZ elements.
To kit out your family from head to toe, we've also found fantastic shoe brands offering fun, flexible, foot-shaped shoes for kids through to adults. Check out the ranges from Plae, PaperKrane, and barefoot adventure sandals from Xero Shoes.
Established in 2012, manitoulinsturtlecreek is one of the original local retailers to bring colourful European organic cotton clothing to NZ. Since then, our small operation has grown steadily, with a range of affordable brands to cover children from 1 to 14 years of age and adults.
Sustainability is at the heart of manitoulinsturtlecreek, both in our business operations and our homes. We believe in buying well and buying less as an effective way to tread gently on the earth - especially with clothing in this fast-fashion world.
In 2019 we launched our clothing buy-back programme, re-loved, as a way to keep these well made clothes in action for longer. As a further commitment to the longevity of our products, we developed Fix It Kits - a range of easy iron-on patches for clothing repair.
Keep coming back as we will continue to add brands and increase our age range over time.
We welcome your feedback, queries or requests.
The Beginning . . .
Hi, I'm Kirsten.
I’m Mum to three small people and wife to Andrew. We’re kept company by our young puppy Jesse, chooks, and a lovely ginger cat called Put Put. I’m a Piano Tuner/Technician. And I run manitoulinsturtlecreek, a small business specialising in fun, colourful, creative and practical kids clothing from Scandinavia.
The concept formed when I fell in love with the Scandinavian clothing as my husband and I, along with our then-7 month old daughter backpacked our way through Scandinavia in 2012. We were given a DUNS of Sweden suit and I had not seen anything like it before. It was full of colour and great images and was made from lovely organic fabric. As we explored I discovered more and more amazing clothing.
On our return home I became passionate about bringing these clothes to New Zealand for all to enjoy.
Visit the blog to read about manitoulinsturtlecreek behind the scenes. It's about life with small children, fun clothing, organic gardening and trying to live a sustainable lifestyle.
I hope you can find something at manitoulinsturtlecreek that will brighten up a little or big person's life or maybe some of my posts will inspire you to try something new or do something different.