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 parents who knew beige and basic were never an option.

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. My kids, on the other hand, were loud, hilarious, weird, chaotic and completely unpredictable. It made no sense dressing so much personality in clothes with none.

So I started making them.

What began 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 hasn’t 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.

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. Something gets moved, oversized, embroidered, layered, contrasted or completely reworked until it feels like us.

There are details you notice straight away and others you might not notice at all. Nothing is there just because that’s how kidswear is usually done.

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 designs are made in small runs.

It’s a more expensive way to make clothing, but it 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. 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 - what kid is?

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

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. But somewhere between starting this brand and watching my own kids grow up in it, 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 put together. But actual childhood doesn’t look like that.

It looks like grass stains and scraped knees. Sand and snacks 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.

So when we say Keeping Childhood Colourful, we mean more than what they’re wearing. We mean letting kids be kids. Loud. Curious. Weird. Imaginative. Messy. Completely themselves. We don’t want to make clothes children have to 'be careful' in.

WE MAKE FOR KIDS, AND WE SHOW UP FOR THEM TOO.

As Chunky has grown, I’ve wanted this little brand to mean something far beyond what we put in a parcel and what you put on your child.

We’ve supported 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.

YOU’LL KNOW IF YOU’RE ONE OF US.

Somehow what started around my dining table has turned into this little world of kids, parents, colour and a serious bit of chaos.

And I think the people who find their way here tend to have a few things in common. We’re the parents who don’t need childhood to look perfect. We let them wear the ridiculously cool combination. We know pockets are for rocks, snacks and things we’d rather not identify. We buy the good clothes and actually let them wear them. We don’t mind the knees getting dirty, and we’d take the memory over the immaculate T-shirt every single time.

Because childhood is short. So short.

So while they’re in it, let them be loud. Let them get filthy. Let them wear the colours. Let them choose the cool weird thing. Let them be completely, gloriously themselves.

If that sounds a bit like your house too, you’ll fit in just fine around here.

Welcome to Chunky.

Susi x
Founder, Mum + Unofficial Beige Interventionist

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