Philly + Friends: Award-Winning Purpose-Led Children’s Toys.

Philly & Friends: the children’s lifestyle and toy brand, that’s on a mission to add color to play, – whilst empowering literacy among underprivileged children.

Launched in 2019, Philly & Friends creates beautifully-crafted children’s books, dolls, puzzles, cards, wall art, and products that are designed to instill confidence and self-love – through the power of representation.

Social impact is at the heart of the business: for each product sold, one book is placed into the hands of an underprivileged child.

Prior to launching Philly & Friends, the brand’s Founder Vese Aghoghovbia worked as a strategist and consultant. She named the business after her daughter, Philly.

“I wanted to create a black children’s character that kids could love and identify with – one who is strong, confident, happy, adventurous, laughs from within, and who loves with tight hugs and lots of kisses. When I had my daughter in 2017, I found very few high-quality children’s books that featured a black or a minority ethnic main character. At the time, less than 1% of children’s books in the UK featured a Black main character,” said Vese.

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Philly & Friends was born out of a desire to see children grow up to see the beauty in themselves and others, and to believe that they can be anything they want to be. The business has become a much-loved children’s brand, with features in Harper’s Bazaar, the BBC, the Telegraph, the Huffington Post, The Guardian, and more. Their newly released boy doll, Arie, was named as one of the best-selling kid’s toys this Christmas.

Also, the brand has won a number of awards, including Best Brand, a Junior Design Award, and Consumer & Luxury Rising Star of the Year. More recently, Vese was selected as a top 100 female entrepreneur to watch in the UK.

Find out more here: https://phillyandfriends.com