I recently spotted a line from France called Les Petites. Unfortunately, they are not very petite at all, despite its name. Instead, in this case, it means "the littlest/youngest one." The designer, Isabelle Benichou is the youngest of seven siblings. Interesting, since I was taught that the youngest child was called l'enfant cadet. Les Petites also has a kids' line, where the name makes much more sense.
In Canada, there's a small selection available (dresses only as far as I could see) at Holt Renfrew, and the smallest size available looked huge (the smallest size I found was a T1 or small (medium would be T2 and large, T3), I guess. Didn't see a T0, or extra small.), so I don't see how the clothes fit the "spirit" of the line, which is described as a woman who "is fragile, sensitive, feminine, sublime, but also, mysterious, funny, mischievous and fascinating, and far from any stereotype." A "fragile" and "feminine" woman is generally seen as waif-like, so the clothes should be cut small. Unless, of course, they send different sizes to North America. Maybe T0 is available in Europe. I'm not even sure if I could call her clothes "fragile-like." Sure, I did see a few dresses that looked babydoll-esque (none seem to be on the website), but most of it looks quite normal, or even strong to me.
Perhaps I don't understand French culture. If I was in Isabelle's position, I would have done some homework and wouldn't have called my clothing line "Les Petites." To non-French, "petite" means small, usually in height (5'4" (162.5 cm) or shorter) and sometimes in frame (some contemporary lines have a "petite" size, but it isn't shorter. Rather, it's an extra extra small) and only that. We don't know that it could also mean the youngest child in the family. While I'm not sure if I would call it Cadet, because of its military-like term, I would have tried to find another name that could fit the spirit of the brand.
