When Kayce Reagan Hughes finished college, she employed her artistic talents working for Ralph Lauren in the Women’s Design department. She gave that up after six years, when she had her first child. Four years and four more children later, Hughes turned some “vintage-looking” fabrics into nightshirts for her daughter. “They were so cute that I had a seamstress sew up some dresses and shorts as well,” she says. Marketing them under the label Pears and Bears, Hughes took her tot-size garments around to a handful of stores, who snatched them up.

What began with a simple nightshirt has now expanded to a near 200 piece collection that includes children's apparel, gift and layette collections and an ever expanding women's line of apparel and accessories.

Hughes’s children are her most obvious source of inspiration. She has seven, ranging in age from 2 to 14. She takes her cues regarding comfort and design from them, noting that “it’s the cozy outfits they want to wear over and over.”

Pears and Bears clothes, she says, are “classic and fun”—she mixes men’s shirting fabrics with floral and vintage prints—at the same time they’re practical. “My dresses are roomy enough to run in and have hems that won’t come undone,” Hughes says, “and we line our pants with flannel, so they’re more cozy.”

Hughes works from her home in Nashville, Tenn., which means she can stay focused on her “first priority, which is being a mom.” Holly Craig manages the sales and marketing of the brand while Caroline Anderson directs trunk shows and special events.