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.