Princess of Madison Avenue

Princess Marie-Chantal, the wife of Crown Prince Pavlos and daughter-in-law of King Constantine, the former King of Greece, will open her first children’s clothing store in the U.S. on Madison Avenue and 87th Street in New York the first week of August.

The princess, who sells her collection of children’s wear throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, opened her first signature shop in London in 2003, also operates a store in Thessaloniki, Greece, and is planning a store in Athens this fall.

The line is aimed at girls from newborn to size 12 and boys from newborn to size 8. Major retail outlets include Bergdorf Goodman in New York and Selfridges in London. Isetan, a top Japanese department store, will launch the collection for winter 2005.

“I love the world of children and to me there is nothing sweeter than seeing a child dressed as a child,” said the princess, who has four children of her own. “This has always been important to me from the time I studied art and design at the New York Academy of Arts and New York University. I wanted to design children’s clothes that are beautiful but cozy, especially at this time so the world for children would be light and hopeful.”