'Baby love' for celebs means fashion

Kevin Costner picked up this green-and-white-striped hand-knit pant set from Igufini for a friend's child

By Alesia Stanford
Special to CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Big screen or magazine page, celebrity fashion is big business. One mention of a designer's name on the lips of a stylishly clad actress and -- zip -- another career in the open.

And when it comes to dressing their children -- or buying clothing gifts for friends' children -- stars may be even more demanding. In Hollywood, cutting-edge fashion begins about the time baby starts cutting teeth.

Shawnee Smith, who plays Linda, the medical office receptionist on "Becker," admits to pumping a "large portion" of her TV paycheck into clothes for her Verve, her toddler daughter. Kevin Costner picked up an expensive Fatamano blanket, along with a coordinating green-and-white-striped hand-knit pant set from Igufini, for a friend's child. And Jane Leeves, Daphne Moon on "Frasier," was the recipient of some very fashionable duds for her new baby.

VIDEO Alesia Stanford has more what the chic babies are wearing these days (August 22) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

You can't find these clothes just anywhere. Trendy boutiques in places like Malibu and Manhattan Beach carry the name designers celebrities request for their darlings.

Alesia Stanford, a correspondent for Daily News from Entertainment Weekly, looked into these very youthful fashion trends with some of the stars' salespeople and filed this report.