Mia Moda is a new line of affordable [around $350], high-design, European-styled strollers that launched last fall. When I saw the press release yesterday for their new model, the Atmosferra, I thought it looked nice, if slightly familiar. Those protruding front wheel knobs reminded me of the new Uppababy Vista, another new stroller that has taken design and structural cues from the Bugaboo and German designs like Hauck/i'Coo/Rockstar Baby without being a knock-off [OK, maybe some of those Haucks are knock-offs.]
Mia Moda's line--or rather the lines of Mia Moda's strollers--look really great from some angles. The 3-wheeled Energi and the 4-wheeled Terra remind me of the beautiful profile that's buried somewhere under the Graco Quattro Tour. [I trust the Mia Modas don't drive like grocery carts, though.]
And the unabashedly chair-shaped Cielo has an ingenious, compact fold that rivals even the Quinny Zapp for tininess.
But Mia Moda's based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, and launching with an instant line of six strollers means most of the design and engineering was already done in China. [Designed-in-China is the new hotness, after all, with or without flames on the side.] So where's the Euro-angle come in, I wondered?
Looking at the Mia Moda site, I first think, "Nice touch, putting a multi-racial family in the slideshow." Then it hit me, right on the numbers, as if I were David Givens in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Daddy's got two baby mamas. It's the same guy. And he's got Brady Twins! [1]
Now I can see how Mia Moda might decide Euro-style is more marketable than, say, Diddy-style, or K-Fed-style, or even old school Mormon-style, but still. Why no double stroller?
Mia Moda strollers and travel systems [miamodainc.com]
[1] for entertainment purposes only. just because Gisele's not really pregnant yet doesn't mean it's a bad coinage.
And here is the chinese model by Starvision Limited.
The park jogger looks interesting
I would definitely want to test drive these first. A 21 year old recently graduated designer holed up in a darkened AutoCAD sweatshop in Shenzhen does not always "get it". That Cielo looks pretty clever though, so maybe this particular one does. They are also starting to get some pretty good ID firms based in China, so this might be a more well-designed effort than what the typical factory puts out.
[taiwan, but point well taken -ed.]
The London shots on the website are priceless - 'I know, we'll have a blonde model pushing the stroller past a street sign that actually SAYS 'The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea' so they can't miss the fact that we are Sophisticated Urban Europeans'...
And I'd lay money on the cafe being Carluccio's in South Ken.
Why doesn't the Kolcraft Contours Options get any love? It's got a lot of the features of the big ticket strollers (plus kid & parent trays) but a super low price tag (120$). Is that why it gets no press? 'Cause it's cheap? I LIKE that. Bugaboo schmugaboo!
These are all well and good, but what about some really well designed, slightly affordable DOUBLE strollers. As a brand new dad (friday morning) of a second child, I am desperately searching for a good double stroller.
Any suggestions?
Have you seen all of the bugaboo inspired lightweight strollers coming out??? Mamas and Papas in the UK have onve:
http://www.mamasandpapas.co.uk/product_details.php?id=102189400&type=I
And I saw this one at babystyle in the UK, but looks like you can get it at target in the US (note how in the UK you can get funkier colors)
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-3373030-2504634?asin=B000JVVXLK&AFID=Yahoo&LNM=B000JVVXLK&ref=tgt_adv_XPYD0100
Funny that Bugaboo went totally in another design direction, instead of trying to create something with its 2 big wheel, 2 little wheel look--judging from all the knock offs I guess it's becoming passe.
Seems like the Cielo is really Euro-inspired
{or rather, they're both from the same Chinese manufacturer. ABC Design also shares a model with Uppababy. nice catch, btw. -ed.]
The Cielo stroller is an ingenious life-saver. My 21-month-old son was in a hip spica cast (broken leg). He couldn't fit into any other chair or stroller, whether adult or child sized, due to the position of his legs (spread eagle: aka the human position)-- he needed a chair with no sides. Anyway, it was small enough to use indoors and is great for travel. I can fold it up in 5 seconds flat, and it looks like it costs 800. It's the size of a bag of groceries when folded, so it fits easily in my small car. Who cares about style with this kind of convenience!
btw, the cielo drives well. i can steer with one hand and it turns on a dime.