Bridal Buyer - Pregnant brides article

“Getting married and having a baby is a cause of celebration – the brides feel great and want to look great”

The bride wears white to symbolise her virginal state, right? Well – it is estimated that one in four brides today is pregnant but that is as nothing when compared with statistics from our prim and proper Victorian forbears that indicate that 60 per cent of brides were in the family way.

Bump pride means that brides are now simply echoing what most expectant mums are demanding – fashionable and stylish clothes. Out is the tent and kaftan; in are outfits – separates, dresses, jackets, trousers and skirts – that are great-looking, fashion-right and affordable.

A well-rounded operation

This was exactly the question Natalie Gladman, designer for Madeline Isaac-James Bridal, asked in 2002 when she launched their maternity bridal collection. “It was a finger in the air to begin with,” she recounts. “Nobody else was addressing the sector in the mainstream.”

It was a gamble, and one that paid off beyond Gladman’s wildest dreams, with the company reporting year-on-year sales increases of 107 per cent. “Social attitudes have changed,” Gladman declares. “Pregnant brides don’t want to and don’t need to, hide their bumps any more. Getting married and having a baby is today a cause of great celebration – the brides feel fantastic and they want to look fantastic on their special day.”

The award-winning company kept prices firmly within the mid-retail price range of £649–£799, although Natalie is planning to launch a higher-end collection for 2009 with a typical retail price tag of £1,200.

Such was the initial success of the collection that it went wholesale last autumn and now, with [30] stockists under their belt, they are actively looking to sign up more. “When we launched our wholesale range we had retailers hugging us,” Gladman recalls, laughing. And she is certainly hoping for the same enthusiastic reaction when their maternity bridesmaid range (£299-£349 rrp)  launches at BBEH in September.[September 2008]

Bumpity-bump

Of course, designing for the pregnant brides presents specific challenges – not least the problem of accommodating a growing bump “We design on the bride’s pre-pregnant size and then allow for the bump,” Gladman says. “The silhouette is very curvy and the cut is all-important as we never use stretch fabrics – they are all the traditional bridal fabrics such as taffeta, satin and chiffon.”

Another problem is timing. Typically, a girl finds herself pregnant and the couple decide to tie the knot before the birth, giving no more than seven months to plan the big day – including getting fitted for her wedding dress. “We can offer different delivery schedules,” says Natalie. “Our standard is ten to twelve weeks but there is an express option of six to eight weeks.”

In addition, the company offers what Natalie believes is a unique service tailored for their stockists. By keeping a wide range of popular styles in popular sizes in stock, they not only can provide an almost instant response from retailers, but also have an exchange programme that responds to brides with tums expanding at an untypical rate. This can range from the girl who appears not to have any bump at all right into her third trimester to the girl whose bust assumes truly maternal proportions – and all other variations on the theme.

There is strong anecdotal evidence to prove that, in maternity as in all other areas of fashion, celebrities are out there in front to show the way – just think of the pregnant but eternally stylish Nicole Kidman, not to mention Angelina Jolie and Natasha Kaplinsky – to name but a few. And there is no question, either, that the web is an unqualified boon for the pregnant bride suffering from swollen ankles and an aching back. Natalie Gladman’s www.madelineisaacjames.com is just such a resource but, such is the growing demand, more and more general bridal sites and portals, such as www.confetti.com, include maternity bridalwear advice.