Cutie Pa Tutus, LLC, was born out of a mother’s desperation over her inability to afford Christmas presents for her children. Having been almost financially ruined by the economy, Amanda Moreno Duke and her husband found themselves unable to afford any of the “extras” in life; any money coming in went straight to pay the bills that had piled up. As Christmas neared, Duke worried that there would be no money to afford the Christmas she wanted for her two children, then 4 and 1. Her breaking point was when she had to return the few gifts she’d bought here and there in order to pay an electricity bill. “I stood in the line at Customer Service and just broke down,” Duke recalls.
At about the same time, a different dilemma introduced a shimmery solution. “My daughter was invited to her first ‘Princess party’,” recalls Duke, of Charleston, SC. She scoured the Internet for just the right tutu for her princess outfit, but didn’t find exactly what she wanted at a reasonable price. So for the first time since making Barbie clothes as a child, Duke sat down to sew. After a few attempts, she came up with an adorable tutu filled with brightly colored pompoms and bells that jingled. Her toddler’s tutu made her the belle of the party, and every mom that saw it wanted one. Duke’s inner light bulb went off; what if she could market these tutus and sell them to help pay for Christmas? So she did; and with the money raised from the sale of her tutus, she was able to repurchase the gifts she’d returned and “save” Christmas for her children after all.
Little did she know that she’d designed a truly unique product that would quickly become nationally popular. Within three months, Cutie Pa Tutus was in 8 local shops and didn’t show any signs of slowing. Duke and her husband made the decision for her to quit her salaried position and take Cutie Pa Tutus to the next level.
Shortly after, Duke’s son became dismayed that she wasn’t making any “boy” products. “He said, ‘what are you going to make for me, Mommy?’ So together we designed the personalized super hero cape. It was my son’s idea to make the cape reversible to a magician’s cape with stars. And now, the capes have become just as popular, if not more so, than the tutus!” states Duke. In fact, Cutie Pa Tutu’s achieved the ultimate coup of having popular actress Jessica Alba’s daughter photographed wearing her hot pink personalized cape that Duke sent as a gift. Duke has also received Tweets from Denise Richards, Alison Sweeney, Nancy O’Dell and even a thank you note from Tori Spelling.
Not a year since she began the company, Cutie Pa Tutus has not only spread from East to West coast, but has also gone international. At last count, Cutie Pa Tutus’ tutus and capes were in 23 US stores, and also in boutiques in Japan, South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). “And we’re just getting started,” Duke insists.
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About Cutie Pa Tutus
Cutie Pa Tutus, LLC is based in Charleston, SC and was founded in 2008 by Amanda Moreno Duke, a mom who needed a tutu for her little girl's first princess party. Cutie Pa Tutus is an online children's boutique retailer, providing unique children’s tutus and capes. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.cutiepatutus.com.
