Mambo given boost by Pink's daughter Willow Sage Hart

PINK'S daughter Willow Sage Hart has become a pin-up girl for surf brand Mambo after being spotted wearing a shirt by the Aussie icon.

DOING for Mambo what Kate Moss has been doing for Stella McCartney for well over decade, 18-month-old Willow Sage Hart, the baby daughter of Pink and Carey Hart, this week became a pin-up for the Aussie surf brand.

More than a generation after the brand exploded onto the fashion radar in 1984, Mambo is creating new waves in kidswear.

The celebrity endorsement has long been the most effective tool in the fashion marketer's handbook - a fact not lost on the marketers at Mambo whem Pink pulled a baby tee onto her tiny daughter while in Sydney.

Of course she's not the only surf "dudette'' to rock a Mambo T-shirt.

Kate Moss' daughter Lila Grace, Elle Macpherson's sons Flynn and Cy and Miranda Kerr's son, also called Flynn, have all shown their loyalty to the brand.

Even Princess Mary was happy to have a Mambo-branded beachballu in an official family photo shoot.

The promo strategy, admits Mambo co-owner, Angus Kingsmill, is to give some product away and Kingsmill confirmed he gave Pink five shirts for Willow when she was in Australia.

"We were approached by her management and asked if we would supply some tees to Willow and Pink's got a couple too,'' he says.

"The one in the photograph is from our current kids range, but it's been tweaked a little. The Rockatoo has a music reference and at the time Pink was sporting a mohawk so we changed the cockatoo's feathers to pink.

"Mambo's always had the pillars of surf, music, humour, art and free tickets so we thought we'd cover two of them off with that shirt - but we're still waiting for free tickets to Pink's concert!''

Kingsmill says the publicity generated from celebrity endorsement is great news for the label.

"They are highly influential fashion leaders, the photographs go around the globe and mums eat it up,'' he says.

"We have a huge kids' business and the celebrity effect helps keeps the brand relevant.''

Mambo's childrens department accounts for 25 per cent of the business and the label is "over 1000 per cent up'' since Kingsmill and his partner bought the business four years ago.

"The kids' tees are only $17.95. A few years ago we made the decision to make it more affordable and accessible,'' he says.

"It's the unique art, it always sets us apart from other surf brands. We're quirkier, cheekier, art-based and ready to take the piss.''