Maternity boutiques mushrooming in town

Maternity boutiques mushrooming in town

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Besides doctors and must-consume vitamins, pregnancy has become a
big business nowadays fashion wise as more and more women have
left behind the idea of wearing the monotonous conservative
maternity look with upbeat flowing dresses.

Most boutiques were started out of a feeling of empathy for
fashion-conscious mothers-to-be. Maternity boutique owners are
mothers who used to have a difficult time finding good or
appropriate maternity clothes.

With daily sales at between 10 and 15 outfits, the boutiques
can earn tens of millions of rupiah from the home-based business.

It is not only pregnant women who go to the boutiques to try
the clothes but large-sized ladies too often drop by and try to
find a dress that fits them.

The logic behind the booming business is clear: todays working
women still go to their office until late into their pregnancy
and even while not working, pregnant women too still need to
socialize by mingling with friends or spending weekends at cafes
or malls.

Pregnant women too go to parties; they still need to dress up
properly.

"It's my experience when I was pregnant. I was still working
and I found it hard to find maternity clothes that were suitable
for me," recalls Cherny W. Sumardi, owner of Anabel boutique.

Her boutique, located in the upmarket Senopati area in South
Jakarta, showcases her designs which are mostly casual and work
clothes. Although there is no particular line or concept she
brings in, Cherny focuses more on the working woman.

"The lines for working women are simple and smart while for
color, I follow current trends," says Cherny who opened her
business two years ago.

The price of her designs, mostly in cotton, range between Rp
169,000 (US$18.7) to Rp 300,000 but party dresses cost more.

She admits the maternity boutiques are now blooming with new
counters opening with various designs.

"So many maternity boutiques have opened recently, although
there are some old names I am already familiar with," says
Cherny.

And the house-boutique concept is really suitable for
maternity shops because at one point, pregnant women, usually
accompanied by family members including toddlers, can shop
conveniently in a homey atmosphere.

The interior of the maternity shops is generally simple from
the plain eye-catching shocking pink like in 9-months boutique in
Kemang, South Jakarta, or the classic art-deco white and dark
brown in Bubble Maternity in Kebayoran Baru also in South
Jakarta.

For a maternity boutique, interior design plays an important
part in making the potential buyers linger a bit longer.

Bubble Maternity also puts children's toys, puzzles and
building blocks, in the "living room" to accentuate the homey
atmosphere.

"Children who are coming with their mothers to shop here tend
to be reluctant to leave. Probably they enjoy our spacious and
airy room," a shop assistant Sri says.

The boutique was opened in May and is jointly owned by three
mothers; Ambar, Fitri and Moureen.

Apparently targeting the well-to-do, most of the boutiques are
located in upmarket areas in South Jakarta like Kemang and
Kebayoran Baru.

For lower budget shoppers, counters at shopping centers like
ITC Mangga Dua and ITC Fatmawati also offer chic maternity
clothes with prices starting from Rp 50,000 for a nice cotton
blouse.

Shiany, who owns a boutique at ITC Fatmawati in South Jakarta,
said she targeted middle-class women and set her prices far lower
than the designs made by house-boutiques.

Shiany also owns Chiantie Maternite boutique and designs and
produces her own products.

Shiany uses homogeneous soft colors for her products and
rarely has motifs on her maternity apparels.

"When I was pregnant I always wanted to look fashionable and
didn't want to wear a stuffy daster (loose house dress). But it
was really hard to find what I wanted so I decided to go to my
tailor and ask her to make my design," she says.

Good maternity clothes, with popular brands are highly priced,
she adds.

"Pregnancy is a short period. Well, nine months doesn't feel
that long. Usually we start to shop for maternity clothes after
we reach four to five months and automatically stop in the eighth
month," Shianty remarks.

However, some of the house-boutiques have expanded their
business by opening counters at malls and other shopping centers.

"For those who intend to buy maternity clothes, they go
directly to our house-boutique but for those who shop at the
malls, they can look at our counter. Who knows what they want to
buy," Bubble's Sri says.

Bubble has opened a new counter at Pasaraya Grande next to 9-
Month boutique and also other established brands while Anabel has
a counter in Sarinah as well as Keris Gallery.