phil&teds® Celebrates 25 Years (1995–2020)
In 2020, phil&teds® marked a major milestone 25 years of innovation, adaptability, and designing products that support real life with kids.
Founded in 1995, the brand has spent a quarter of a century challenging traditional nursery thinking, creating products that help parents move beyond survival mode and live a dynamic lifestyle with children in tow.
CEO, Campbell Gower, reflected on the journey and the people behind it.
‘We’ve come a long way from those humble beginnings. In the space of over two decades, the right insight and talent from a terrific team to create a uniquely appealing product set, and a brand that resonates with both mums and dads, has enabled us to help a million parents around the world adapt&survive their parenting day.”
From its early days, phil&teds® became known for its cheeky tone, world-first innovations, and ultra-adaptable products. By 2020, the brand was sold in over 40 markets and more than 1,000 stores worldwide, supporting families across a wide range of lifestyles and stages of parenting.
“We understand parents need affordable, innovative solutions to make their lives easier; products specifically designed to enhance their parenting day, whatever that may look like.”
That philosophy underpinned everything phil&teds® created.
“I’m proud to say phil&teds® does just that; we create products that let parents escape the nursery jail and live a dynamic lifestyle with kids in tow. All our products adapt in some way to meet a family’s growing needs. In doing so, we create new categories, not just products!”
By its 25th year, phil&teds® supported seven key categories of the parenting day: push, feed, sleep, carry, drive, adapt, and bath, reflecting the brand’s belief that parenting products should flex and evolve as families grow.
Innovation had long been a defining pillar. From the world’s first single-to-double inline buggy to a portable cot that’s genuinely portable, and an automatic braking system that adds confidence to everyday outings, phil&teds® consistently focused on solving real parenting challenges.
“It’s why we’re the nursery brand in the world that caters for seven categories of the parenting day - push, feed, sleep, carry, drive, adapt and bath.”
From the world’s first single-to-double inline buggy to a portable cot that’s actually portable (as it’s lighter than the baby), and a brake that stops the buggy automatically, for over 25 years innovation has been a central plank to the phil&teds® brand.
“We find that need - a problem to be solved - and deliver on it in both an innovative and aesthetically pleasing way.”
Even at the 25-year mark, the brand continued to push forward.
“With an eye to the future, we’re always looking at new innovations. Products that test conventional thinking, and push boundaries. Last year we launched an entirely new inline buggy platform, and in 2020 we reinvigorated our award-winning poppy™ high chair and created a whole new category for parents at bath time with the poppy™ bath seat!’’
phil&teds® design excellence was also recognised beyond the parenting world. In 2015, the brand received an international Red Dot Design Award for the convertible verve™ inline buggy.
“It’s a huge honour to be recognised on the global stage as one of the world’s best in design alongside well-known brands such as Ferrari and Apple.’’
“Not only is it certification for our team to really stand up on the world stage and be counted, but also because the judges saw value in the designs we thought would resonate with consumers.”
Looking back from 2020, the founding mission remained unchanged.
“25 years ago, phil&teds® invented the world’s first single-to-double buggy, solving a key parenting challenge. Setting trends and global innovations, designing original and award-winning products that enable parents to escape being prisoners of the nursery and live a dynamic lifestyle with kids in tow; it’s what we’ve done, and will continue to do, from the other side of the world, for decades to come.”
