By Luciana Bellini

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If you’ve never heard of Meri Meri, you’ve probably never tried to put together an aesthetically pleasing kids’ party.

Those who have will be well aware that the American-born, UK-based brand is the only place to get chic partywear for children, with their whimsical fairy-themed garlands and pastel-coloured paper cups and plates the antithesis of the cheap, Crayola-bright tat usually trotted out in church halls up and down the country. Now the brand has launched its first pop-up store in Notting Hill, running until mid-January, where you can go to shop Meri Meri’s playful range of seasonal decorations, toys and fancy-dress costumes.

Originally founded in California in 1985 by entrepreneur Meredithe Stuart-Smith, the brand is loved by everyone from Michelle Obama – who bought one of their giant Thanksgiving banners to decorate her home for the holidays a few years back – to the Duchess of Sussex, who’s used Meri Meri decorations for Archie and Lilibet’s parties. But Stuart-Smith says Meghan wasn’t the first royal to fall in love with the brand.

“We have a long-standing relationship with the Middletons, because it was Carole Middleton’s Party Pieces that first helped us expand into the UK,” she tells me over Zoom from her Cheltenham office, where the brand is now based. “And, in turn, we were the brand that really elevated Party Pieces, because before us, there wasn’t anything in the market that was as fun and stylish. Prince George even had our Peter Rabbit collection for his first birthday. So, Meri Meri was used by the royal family long before Meghan. Because, really, who else are they going to use?”

She has a point. Another famous dynasty in the Meri Meri fan club is the Kardashians, who are well-known for the lavish parties they throw for their children, which are rumoured to cost up to £100,000 a pop. “Their parties are usually heavy-duty Meri Meri and they’ve done everything from unicorns to flowers,” says Stuart-Smith. “Khloe is a huge fan and she almost never has a party without using us. They work with a party planner to the stars called Mindy Weiss, who’s a great account of ours – a real creative force.”

With Meri Meri celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, it’s certainly come a long way from Stuart-Smith’s glitter-covered kitchen table, where she started out crafting handmade cards with around 70 other San Francisco-based mothers. But the brand’s real eureka moment came in 2008, around her son’s seventh birthday, when Stuart-Smith decided to decorate his cakes with cut-out pirates on sticks. They were a huge hit and the idea for Meri Meri’s popular cupcake kits was born. “Those put us on the map and changed everything for the business,” she says. “We’ve now sold millions of cupcake kits and that’s what led to us moving from greetings cards into party supplies.”

You can now browse the full collection in the flesh for the first time at the Kensington Park Road pop-up, with full party sets starting from £57 for a set of eight paper cups, plates, napkins and a matching garland and fantastical fancy-dress costumes from £45. The shop is in prime Yummy Mummy territory – indeed, within the first week both the Bloomingdale’s heiress Hayley Bloomingdale and former British Vogue stalwart Sarah Harris had popped in on the way back from the school run. They’re both classic Meri Meri customers, who Stuart-Smith describes as supremely stylish, “with very stylish houses to match.”

But while the brand might be a firm favourite with celebrities and grace the tables of some of the most lavish kids’ parties in the land – Stuart-Smith tells me about one Meri Meri event at The Lanesborough earlier this year, where the hotel’s ballroom was transformed into a floral wonderland with fairy entertainers and a live band – above all she’s keen to emphasise the brand was originally created with exhausted, working parents in mind. It’s designed to bring a little joy and magic into their lives and make throwing that annual birthday party less of a chore – something every frazzled parent can get on board with. “With Meri Meri, I want to make it easy,” she says. “And I want to make that person feel good. That’s always been my goal.”

The Meri Meri pop-up shop is at 19 Kensington Park Road, London W11 2EU until mid-January; merimeri.co.uk