Last month they won a prestigious Gold Award for Emerging Business (with less than 10 employees), and now Petone-based Womama is hoping to crack the competitive UK market with its unique brand of maternity lingerie.
Womama co-director Heidi Holbrook says the three-year-old company was approached in mid 2008 by British woman Emma Dexter, who was about to move back to the UK after some years in New Zealand.
“Emma was passionate about our product and wanted to distribute it there. She has strong entrepreneurial skills and understands our brand so she was the perfect ambassador to take our product to the European market.”
Since returning to the UK in February, Emma has orchestrated meetings with the National Childbirth Trust, the UK’s biggest parenting charity which runs ante-natal classes for thousands of women each year, as well as leading UK department store, John Lewis.
“We’ve had great feedback from both groups who loved our birthing wrap. This is a unique product in the UK and we’re marketing it like a little black dress for every woman that can be also be worn before and after the birth.”
This recent chapter in the Womama success story follows the three year old company’s success domestically and in Australia, as well as globally via their online presence.
The Womama range now includes such delightfully named garments as Rocket Bras, Nightie Night Nighties, Slinky Slips, No Nana Knickers and Leisure Pants. The company also produces a New Zealand merino collection, including the world’s only merino breastfeeding singlet.
Their success, they say, is two-fold: “We saw a gap in the market and we worked about filling it. Plus, we’ve had fantastic support from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise as well as Creative HQ. We’re now projecting a 200% growth rate going forward, which is fantastic”.