Isabella Oliver, the maternity fashion brand of the year, has just launched their new SS16 collection and we are happy to present our 5-minutes interview with, the Creative Director, Baukjen De Swaan Arons.
1) What is your favourite piece from your collection dropping in the start of the year?
I couldn’t say that there is one particular favourite from this season, but I am really excited by the new twists on old favourites such as our beautiful Ellison Maternity Shirt which comes in a soft ‘Oxford Blue’ and our Burnell Striped Dress which I believe will be really popular. And it wouldn’t be an Isabella Oliver collection if we didn’t include our famous jersey dresses which come in a range of new shades; watch out for the Ellis Dress in Rich Apricot- it’s a summer holiday must-have!
2) What are the colours and the prints for this new Season?
We have a wonderful palette this season of soft shades such as Sea Foam and Dusted Blush, as well as brighter options including Denim Blue and
the aforementioned Rich Apricot. We like to keep it simple so that you can mix Isabella Oliver pieces with the basics you have in your wardrobe, and also wear post-pregnancy. Print wise, we’re very excited about our monochrome Mini Floral print, exotic Painterly Leopard print, and classic Tonal Stripe.
3) What’s one thing that the modern pregnant woman needs in her life?
We check in with our customers on a regular basis to ensure we’re giving them the kind of styles and finishes that they love. One of the biggest things we’ve learnt from our fans is they “still want to feel ‘like me’”. I think it’s very important that modern pregnant women are still able to retain a sense of their style identity. Pregnancy brings on both physical and mental changes and sometimes it’s easy to forget about the real you. At Isabella Oliver, we prioritise how our customers ‘feel’ and take it from there. Our clothes are designed to work with the changes your body takes i.e. our trousers have either elasticated or extendable waistbands, most of our tops are suitable for nursing, our basics tees/ tanks/ long line tops have a comfortable ruching to accommodate a growing bump…the list goes on!
4) What is your everyday challenge?
To stay relevant to a new audience. Once the Isabella Oliver customer has had her baby, we no longer have that customer, so we make sure that we keep existing relationships and offer competitive referral schemes. We do very well via word of mouth, so we try to make sure that we maintain that reputation by being the first port of call for any new mothers-to-be.
5) If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Like most working mothers, I’d love for there to be 25 hours in the day! Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy, but I find it thoroughly rewarding and have tried my best to master the work life balance over the past 12 years. Family always comes first for me, and I am lucky that I have a wonderful team to work with, so perhaps that 25th hour could go towards a bit of “me time” at the end of the day!
6) One thing you learnt through your journey with Isabella Oliver?
It’s been an incredible journey so far and I have learnt many things along the way. If I had to pick one thing, I would say that in the past 12 years, the role of social media has completely changed the way we shop, and this has been a huge learning curve. We find it incredibly important to support all blogging community and are really open to working with bloggers on a review basis as their opinion is unbiased and it is trusted and they can test for themselves the clever design we put in to the collection. Last year Isabella Oliver hit the big 10,000 followers on Instagram and we really enjoy reading people’s comments and feedback as it is so valuable to have that relationship with your customer base.
Don’t forget to check out their new collection available now online at Isabella Oliver!
