Millions of Gen-Z consumers today are approaching parenthood – projections released by data company Capita estimates the US will have 4 million Gen-Z mothers by 2025, and 17 million by 2060. Alongside their Millennial counterparts, these consumers are seeking parenting products in new categories, which they are purchasing by necessity — products they want to reflect their own tastes and values.
This is evident in the global kidswear market, where, according to market research firm Mintel, 44 percent of parents are happy to pay more for branded childrenswear, a figure that rose to 55 percent for high earners. To meet demand, a spate of independent brands, luxury houses and retailers have doubled down on their premium kidswear offerings. It’s a timely move — the category continues to outperform others and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 5.35 percent between 2024 and 2029, according to Mordor Intelligence.
Now, the baby gear space is set to undergo the same treatment. German company Cybex, founded by Martin Pos in 2005, has honed its focus on technical lifestyle products for parents and children. In its 20 years of business, Cybex offers innovative products that prioritise safety — while also placing a real emphasis on design and aesthetics. Indeed, its merger with Goodbaby International Holdings Limited in 2014 has allowed for increased exposure in new markets and expansion of the product portfolio. Today, the company operates in more than 120 countries and has won more than 500 awards for safety, functionality and design from the likes of Red Dot Design Awards, German automobile association ADAC, as well as TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions.
While safety remains paramount, Cybex has broadened its appeal to design-conscious parents, partnering on limited collections with tastemakers from cultural sectors such as art, fashion and music. The brand counts designer Jeremy Scott, musician DJ Khaled, artists Marcel Wanders and Verdy and actress and model Karolína Kurková among its collaborators.
As Cybex enters its 20th year in business, the brand has opened its first store in Paris — a flagship on Rue Saint-Honoré, a historic, premium shopping street in the city centre. The move marks a new phase of physical retail expansion.
Now, BoF sits down with Cybex founder Martin Pos and its CEO, Johannes Schlamminger for insight into evolving parental needs, balancing design and functionality, and what fashion can learn from the category’s innovation.
How have parental shopping priorities changed over the past twenty years of Cybex?
MP: There are always going to be new parents and with that, new priorities, new trends and even new information sources. Today’s parents are consuming information in a very different way to the new parents 20 years ago. From our perspective, it’s about keeping up with those shifts and also spending time where they are.
For brands catering to these parents, it means that you have to be ready to address them all the time, from in-store physical experiences through to social media channels and forums. We try to accompany our customers throughout those different channels — and when the trends shift, we move with them.
JS: The most notable shift is coming through the older Gen-Z parents who are hugely informed in this space, thanks to social media. You cannot cut corners — the authenticity of the brand is laid bare for everyone to see. As a younger brand in the market, we enjoy and embrace that transparency.
What innovations best exemplify Cybex’s USP within the market?
JS: All of our products have to serve the parents in three dimensions — in design, in functionality and, of course, in safety. As a new parent there can be a lot of fear, particularly in relation to transportation. That is why at Cybex, we work on removing that fear to give new parents freedom through safety features, certifications and warranties, such as the ADAC car seat test and Which? magazine’s Child and Baby Brand of the Year Award. The rigour of those tests, and the testimonials from experts and opinion leaders are key. We use those to underpin our curated portfolio of products to make that selection process easy.
MS: We were the first company to integrate an airbag in a car seat for babies, which was thought to be impossible. It’s that idea that acts as our driving force. If we know something would be excellent but others say it can’t work, we ask ourselves, “why not, if it would truly add value?” That’s when we decide to give it a try, be persistent, be rigorous with our testing and continue.
How are those generational shifts influencing your product design and marketing strategies?
MP: When I started Cybex, working from my kitchen at home, there were established brands dominating the market that made it difficult for us to transport our message. We knew we had to deliver better in terms of technology, in terms of culture and lifestyle, and also in value for money — meeting the needs of new parents.
Today’s parents are consuming information in a very different way to the new parents 20 years ago. […] It’s about keeping up with those shifts and also spending time where they are.
— Martin Pos, founder of Cybex
We were early in the adoption of social media to build our brand and message — it meant we were able to reach customers directly and remove the filters. In order to be a customer-centric brand, you have to be very comfortable getting close to customers and having an open dialogue with them. We are happy having those discussions and removing the filter — we are always asking, “How do we deliver on your latest expectations?”.
How does Cybex balance safety and functionality with aesthetics in its design and development processes?
MP: Safety underpins everything but we don’t want to compromise on aesthetics, so we have very different thinkers and experts working closely together to make that happen. This is what makes the difference — it’s that tension and different ways of thinking that creates real innovation.
Typically, technology companies have a working methodology that the tech comes first — the engineer comes first — and then the design follows, working retroactively to make the product look better. At Cybex, we begin with design prototypes, and then engineers work to implement the technology and safety. We learnt this at an early stage — design and culture come first. Your first touchpoint with consumers, with humans, is through their senses. If a product lacks that aesthetic appeal in today’s market, you will struggle to capture consumer interest.
JS: It’s the symbiotic nature of how we all work together. It’s not only the engineers and designers, its marketers, product managers and project managers. We have recruited a truly diverse team — more than 54 nationalities are represented in the Cybex workforce. That global view and the different expertise and thinking that goes into how we create our products is critical for keeping that balance, and keeping us innovating.
How critical are creative partnerships in building the Cybex brand?
MP: Partnerships are very important as they confirm our holistic approach to creativity and culture, in everything we do. Creative partnerships are an extension of the brand, and in some cases our collaborators have also become close personal friends.
Jeremy Scott, for example — I have known him for over 10 years and we have been able to grow together personally and professionally. Each collection we produced represents a different step in our creative evolution.
As a brand, we need to offer authentic, culturally-relevant content and products with collaborators that share our common values. This is also why each collaboration is so different. They stem from each creative in a different way to cater to a host of different types of parents and audiences, ultimately representing the universe of Cybex in all its facets.
How has your retail expansion strategy changed with the newest opening of your Paris Flagship store?
JS: Our physical retail strategy is really built on the premise that parenting should be one of life’s great emotional luxuries. We want to support that by providing a luxury experience as a service. We currently have a store network spanning Tokyo, Seoul, Amsterdam, Prague and Paris. Now, our sights are set on expanding to have flagships in Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, London, New York and Dubai. We’re currently in 120 countries by our own design or through third parties — the goal is to build a global presence to serve all parents.
It’s about creating products that fit into existing lifestyles […] and understanding what else we need to add to our product ecosystem to support that.
— Johannes Schlamminger, CEO of Cybex
MS: Of course, we have prioritised the most frequented cities, but we’ve also prioritised more complex cities where we need to prove ourselves.
Our decision to open a flagship on the Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris was questioned, when you consider the type of brand that operates on that street. However, we said that if we could survive on such a competitive street, in the orbit of the biggest luxury brands on the planet, then we know that we can thrive anywhere our customers are spending time.
What do you anticipate to matter most to new parents in this space over the medium term?
MS: I think that trust remains absolutely paramount — and we plan to build on the foundation of trust we have built over the last two decades to really become a one stop shop for young parents, diversifying our offering further in order to help family life be as simple as possible and act as a solutions provider.
JS: To succeed in this space, you have to acknowledge that the parents are the most important. It’s about creating products that fit seamlessly into existing lifestyles, building that relationship with parents, and understanding what else we need to add to our product ecosystem to support that. If their needs are changing, we have to change as well. As Martin said, we’re a solutions provider — a concierge for parents so that they can enjoy family life.
This is a sponsored feature paid for by Cybex as part of a BoF partnership.