Clarence Claus™ is wrapping paper that features a jolly old man with a chocolate complexion, a white beard and red suit allowing families of color to have a product that represents their culture and lifestyle under the tree for the holiday season. The wrapping paper is 27’’ x 60’’and is available in two designs. Additional items available include t-shirts, buttons, mugs and more adorned with Clarence Claus™. This is the first time that Clarence Claus™ will be available for purchase in Canada for the holiday season.
Launched by husband and wife team – Jackie and Shaun Rodgers – Clarence Claus™ is the first product from Greentop Gifts, a wrapping paper and gift company for people of color. In their quest to find wrapping paper with a black Santa on it to wrap their one-year-old son Elijah's gifts, they created Greentop Gifts in 2016.
KIDS SWAG – a Canadian online retailer – was ecstatic to discover the brand last year and was determined to bring it to Canada in 2017. Now through a partnership with Greentop Gifts, KIDS SWAG is the exclusive retailer of Clarence Claus™ gift wrapping paper in Canada. The wrapping paper retails for $8CDN per roll.
Founder, Kim West of KIDS SWAG is a wife and mother of two girls. Inspired by their zest for life Kim created KIDS SWAG with a mission to make representation the norm. She states “it’s not just about wrapping paper with a black image it’s about the impact these items have on a child’s sense of self-worth."
The premise around KIDS SWAG and all of the products they carry is simple – Representation. Children want to be like the images they see on television, online or in books and unfortunately those images tend to represent a singular view of beauty and accomplishment that are subtly stating to children of color that they do not measure up or worse, they don't belong.
Now through Clarence Claus™ and the wide assortment of children products in her store - including top seller Nia Ballerina, a black ballerina jewelry box - parents have the chance to delight their children twice – once through extra special gift-wrapping paper and the second through the diverse and inclusive gifts provided by KIDS SWAG.
About KIDS SWAG: KIDS SWAG is a Canadian online retailer of lifestyle products inspired by black kids. They exist to make it easy for parents to purchase products with positive black images.
Visit www.kidsswag.ca for more details.