I recently got to thinking about the many friends of mine who have recently had babies. Some of them happen to be Nigerians and of course in my ever hyperactive mind, I could not help but think about what it would be like having a maternity wear for the Nigerian pregnant woman. Think about it guys. We’ve got Nike (Ogunlesi) with Ruff n Tumble, Folake Kuye Huntoon with Wewe Clothing and Lisa Folawiyo for Jewel by Lisa, all creating lines for the little ones.
But, what about a line for the hot Nigerian mamas while they are still preggers? A line that uses ankara/lace/adire/aso oke to create inspired maternity clothing that is fitted, sexy and fashionable for the Nigerian pregnant soon to be mom?
My thoughts were not too far off because a quick research showed Liz Lange had done it so well in the USA. How could I forget Liz Lange?! Liz started her maternity line with no idea how to run a fashion business, little cash and a lot of naysayers. Today her business is gigantic!
Here are some steps she took for the designers out there contemplating this idea:
1. She identified a market, that of pregnant women
2. She identified the problem: pregnant women want to feel sexy, fashionable yet appropriate and NO ONE, no retailer out there was responding to their needs!
3. Having identified the problem, she directly contacted pregnant women, mostly celebrities to wear her designs. Her first client was Supermodel Cindy Crawford.
4. Cindy rocking Liz Lange lead to loads of press and Liz’s phone ringing off the hook because many moms wanted the same thing Cindy was wearing!
5. Liz then pounded the pavement in the garment district till she found a manufacturer willing to help her make some small lots (quantities) for her small clients.
6. She began gaining momentum that way and then NIKE the sports apparel company contacted her. After a partnership with NIKE, her real take off began when Target contacted her to design for their customers.
From 5 employees, Liz grew to 50 employees and ultimately a multi-million dollar company.
The video clip gives you so much info. on running a fashion business, her mistakes and successes, importance of the right price points in a tough retail market and the importance of balance, especially when your business takes off.
Any takers for maternity wear for Nigeria’s pregnant women, all the hot mamas? “Why not you Uduak,” you ask? I have never been pregnant and have a little ways to go before I get there. So consider this your freebie idea for being a LadybrilleNigeria reader! (Smile)
Be inspired from Liz’s highly informative interview and go make it happen with your own fashion businesses, whatever they may be! Have a great weekend!
~Uduak Oduok
~Photocredit: Liz Lange.com
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
[…] We now have an answer, Yummy Mummy Maternity Couture®. Yummy Mummy Couture added a comment to our article about this niche and we just had to check them out and liked what we saw!“Yummy Mummy […]
My name is Edidiong Amama Ekwere (DeeDee for short) and I am the Owner/Creative Director of Yummy Mummy Maternity Couture, fondly called YM Couture, an up and coming fashion line for expectant moms-to-be, nursing and full fledged mothers with a couple of pieces thrown in for the everyday, urban lady.
Yummy Mummy Maternity Couture® boasts “Haute Couture” and Prêt-a-porter collections for today’s ‘unrepentantly preggo’ diva, providing her couture with a decidedly ethnic twist. Using African prints as a basic medium and playing it against and alongside other fabrics of varying textures, Yummy Mummy Maternity Couture® desires to craft and provide a unique African inspired touch to its products captivating the trendy, classy, sexy, sassy and bold modern day mummy-to-be. We are confident the vibrant colours and hard-to-come-by patterns will steal your heart right away, and they are just for that woman who ‘dares to be different’.
I debuted last August with my premier collection though I was unable to be part of Elle Consultancy’s Maternity Show eventually. My sophomore 2011 spring collection, has just been released with lots of unique, fun, stylish and extremely wearable pieces.
You can see my pieces on either http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/YummyMummyMaternityCouture or http://www.ymcouture.com.
I totally agree with you all. Good to know there are pro active ladies thinking about making an improvement in the fashion industry. As an independent beauty consultant, I have tried to bridge the gap by planning a maternity show.
Its coming up next month in v.i. sadly I have only 2 designers showing off maternity wears. Just to let you know that there is one already, Deedee Ekwere for yummy mummy couture. Phunkafrique will also showcase her new maternity line.
I’ll send you more info soon.
@Omo, EXCELLENT! Please be sure to keep us on your mailing list whne you finally execute on your idea.
The LadybrilleNigeria Team
actually been thinking and reserching about it when i stumbled on your write up. thanks
Maternity Wear for the Nigerian Pregnant Soon to Be Mom …: I recently got to thinking about the many friends .. http://bit.ly/4H1Iml
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