Why should pregnancy come at the expense of looking good and feeling fit?

October 30, 2021

This was the question I asked myself which became the inspiration behind Luna Gray.

The short answer is; it shouldn’t! The real answer is; it does.

According to the office of national statistics, 839,043 women fell pregnant in 2018. Over the course of a year that is just shy of 2300 a day! Pregnancy is not a new phenomenon and has been around far longer than anyone reading this blog. Yet for those prenatal and postpartum months, the fashion and fitness industries combine forces when it comes to maternity activewear and largely turn their backs on us already hormonal women, adding insult to injury ahead of the thankless and painful task of giving birth.

I vividly remember opening my cupboards to find a severe lack of suitable clothing, lost to an expanding waistline, widening thighs and milk inflated boobs. It was if a famine had taken hold of my entire wardrobe. Not to be discouraged I decided to consult my friend the internet who turned out to be equally as unhelpful.

Don’t get me wrong, most of the big brand names do offer a limited maternity activewear range but pregnant women aren’t much more than an afterthought. Yet in the coming years those same brands will be queuing up with an infinite selection of clothing, in a bid to convince our now slightly older and slightly less innocence children that their products are the best.

Similar to pregnancy, activewear has been around for a fair old while too (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDanna3s4Qw). However, in recent years the lines between what is considered sport’s apparel and what is considered fashion have become increasingly blurred. Coffee café goers and yoga enthusiasts can now attend both activities dressed identically without anyone batting any eyelid.

Furthermore, activewear serves the duel purpose, especially for pregnant women, of offering comfort and convenience. It keeps everything in place, it is easy to put on and take off and can be worn shopping for groceries, laying on the sofa or conversing with girlfriends over lunch.

So for all the many benefits it seems a travesty that such a vital style of clothing for pregnant women only exists in such a tiny offering. Pregnancy is often a challenging period in a women’s life. Our mind and body can change drastically over a very short period and one sure fire way to exacerbate that change is to stop doing the things you once enjoyed because you feel like you can’t. This proved to be particularly problematic for someone like myself.

Pre bump I would exercise regularly and happily wear the same outfit a week later for a social get together. As my body changed it meant that existing activewear was no longer suitable. Suddenly unwanted dilemmas started to occur – Do I go to the gym tonight? Can I be bothered see people as I have no clothes? Shall I buy a larger size that still doesn’t fit?

On average it takes little over two months for something to become a habit. As you can imagine, after a few missed appointments or gym classes, fast forward 60 days and you aren’t going out at all. I quickly came to realise that it wasn’t my lack of motivation but my lack of choice in activewear that proved to be the catalyst for this. The issue quite literally only becomes larger as your bump develops.

It wasn't right that women could be turned off exercising or prevented from feeling good about the way they looked, just because of a lack of appropriate clothing!

Out of small acorns grow mighty oaks and in March 2021 I finally launched my own maternity activewear company on instagram in a bid to solve this problem. Luna Gray combines fitness and fashion without compromise. We want to design activewear that is comfortable, inspires confidence in how you feel and look both during and after pregnancy.

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