ABOUT US

A woman and a young girl sharing an ice cream cone at an outdoor cafe table, both wearing matching red, blue, and yellow baseball caps.

For the Kids Who Were Never Meant to Blend In.

I’m Susi, mum of two and the person behind Chunky Munky Co.

Chunky started on the Gold Coast in 2023 because I couldn’t find enough of the clothes I actually wanted to put my own kids in. Everything seemed to be getting quieter, more minimal and a little too grown-up. Meanwhile, my kids were loud, funny, messy, completely unpredictable and usually wearing something I’d never have chosen to coordinate.

Their clothes felt like they should have a bit more life in them too.

So I started making them.

What began at home, usually late at night around the dining table, has somehow turned into clothes being worn by kids in places I never imagined they’d reach.

It’s grown a lot since then, but the reason behind it hasn’t really changed. I wanted kidswear to feel like childhood again, colourful, fun, a little unexpected and never too serious.

That’s still what Chunky is here to do.

WE TOOK BASIC AS A SUGGESTION.

These days, Chunky makes everyday clothes for kids aged one to six. Tees, pants, denim, sweatshirts and hats... just considerably less ordinary versions of them.

I have a hard time leaving anything alone. A pocket gets turned on an angle. A sleeve gets a giant star. A plain hem suddenly needs another colour underneath it. There’s embroidery, appliqué, contrast panels, unexpected trims and usually at least one detail that probably didn’t need to be there but made the whole thing better.

Most of our fits are deliberately oversized with room for kids to move, climb, crouch and sit in whatever bizarre position they’ve decided is comfortable that day.

Because however much time I spend making the clothes look good, they’re still children’s clothes.

They’re supposed to be lived in.

MADE SMALL. THOUGHT ABOUT A LOT.

Our Chunky designs are made in very small runs.

It’s a more expensive way to make clothing but staying small gives me the freedom to be incredibly particular about what we put out. I spend a ridiculous amount of time going back and forth over fabric weights, fits, trims, pockets, stitching and tiny details most people probably won’t consciously notice, but I know you can feel the difference when it all comes together.

The samples come home first. My own kids wear them, climb in them, eat in them, go to daycare in them and generally provide the sort of product testing no adult could reasonably recreate.

They’re not careful with anything. Which is the point.

Everything is designed here on the Gold Coast and produced in small batches with trusted manufacturing partners we’ve built close relationships with along the way.

We don’t make thousands of something just because we can. We make what we believe in, see what you love, bring back the good stuff and keep moving.

COLOUR IS ONLY PART OF IT.

Chunky has always been colourful through this journey I realised what I cared about was bigger than the clothes.

Childhood has become very easy to curate. The perfect room. The perfect outfit. The perfect photo. Everything matching, everything clean, everything just so.

But actual childhood doesn’t look like that.

It looks like grass stains and scraped knees. Sand in the car. Collections of rocks you’re absolutely forbidden from throwing away. Clothes put on backwards. Pockets full of god knows what. Big feelings, questionable decisions and a lot of washing.

We don’t want to make clothes children have to be careful in.

We want them to have a really bloody good childhood in them.

IF WE MAKE FOR KIDS, WE SHOULD SHOW UP FOR THEM TOO.

As Chunky has grown I’ve wanted this little brand to mean something beyond what we put in a parcel.

Over the years we’ve been fortunate enough to support organisations working to make childhood safer and better, including Children of the Mekong, Baby Give Back, NOT FOR SALE and, most recently, Destiny Rescue through Motion Four Justice.

We’re not a charity and I don’t want to dress up selling clothes as changing the world.

I just believe that if our business exists because of children, then when we’re in a position to help other children, we should.

So we do.

And as Chunky grows, I want that part to grow with it.

AND THEN THERE’S YOU.

This might have started because I couldn’t find the clothes I wanted for my own two kids, but it stopped being just mine a long time ago.

Every time you put one of our pieces on your kid, send me a photo, tell a friend about us, share something ridiculous I’ve posted or come back for another drop, you’re helping a very small Australian brand keep doing things its own way.

However I think there’s something else that has brought all of us here too. We’re the parents who don’t need childhood to be quite so polished. Who don’t mind the knees getting dirty. Who let them choose the ridiculous combination. Who know the good clothes are meant to be worn. Who would rather have the memory than the immaculate T-shirt.

That’s the part of Chunky that has become much bigger than I ever expected. Not some profound movement. Not a club you have to join. Just a growing bunch of us who think childhood is fleeting, and kids should get to be properly, completely, gloriously kids while they’ve got it.

So stay colourful. In every sense of the word.

Susi x
Founder, Mum + Unofficial Beige Interventionist

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