Started in 2015 by Kriti Baveja and Divya Gupta, Momzjoy brings a range of fashionable as well as comfortable maternity and nursing wear that is designed to fit during and post-pregnancy. The credo of the brand which is “Own Your Confidence” is based on the belief that pregnant and new mothers should feel confident about the way they look and their attires. Thus, the brand brings a range of quality clothing for expecting and nursing mothers to stay comfortable during and after pregnancy without having them to compromise on their style.
Kriti Baveja, Co-Founder of MomzJoy delves in about their inspiration behind starting the brand, the current market reach, future plans and the key trends defining the maternity wear market in a conversation with Mommy & Baby Times (MBT).
June 06, 2020
MBT: Could you please give us a glimpse into the business journey of the company and what it was that inspired you to start MomzJoy?
Kriti Baveja: Me (Kriti Baveja) and my childhood friend Divya Gupta got thinking about Momzjoy when we met an expectant friend at a party who was dejected owing to the fact that she couldn’t find any rightly fitting and decent maternity wear. In fact, a survey of 2000+ expecting Indian mothers showed they were anxious about breastfeeding and their appearance during and post-pregnancy. Taking the hint from that conversation, we pondered upon how pregnancy is highly underrated and how it deserves much more importance than it is given. We also surveyed over 200+ expecting mothers only to find them anguished about finding the right mix of fashionable yet comfortable and functional clothes because of problems of fit, long-term usability, and feeding ease. We took it upon ourselves to solve this problem using the power of fashion and thus, we started our own maternity & nursing fashion brand – MomzJoy. With the mission to empower mothers and make them feel beautiful, confident and happy in their own skin, we bring a range of fashionable, functional, yet comfortable maternity and nursing wear. Our apparel products are innovatively designed to fit during and post-pregnancy and also have concealed nursing access for easy breastfeeding.
Momzjoy also takes pride in being a complete “Make in India” brand with all its products handcrafted at its in-house manufacturing unit. It offers more than 800 products which include maternity & nursing dresses, tops, kurtas, hospital gowns, nursing lingerie, maternity bottom wear, maternity swimwear, and nursing stoles. We have also recently launched a variety of baby products, newborn clothes, and kidswear.
MBT: How is your brand changing the way pregnant and new mothers get dressed in India?
KB: Typically, during pregnancy, women have to either get their old clothes altered or buy clothes from stores that may not adapt to their growing curves and hence, in turn, settle for products that are neither feeding-friendly, fitted or fashionable. Momzjoy helps in solving this problem and creates maternity & nursing wear products that are fashionable, comfortable yet functional. Going by our motto, “Own Your Confidence”, Momzjoy’s products ensure mothers feel confident and happy in their own skin and encourage them to flaunt their bump. Our apparel products are innovatively designed to help mothers transition effortlessly from pregnancy to motherhood. They are not only trendy but also have easy feeding access and fit and flatter during and post-pregnancy hence ensuring longevity.
“We offer more than 800 products which include maternity & nursing dresses, tops, kurtas, hospital gowns, nursing lingerie, maternity bottom wear, maternity swimwear, and nursing stoles. We have also recently launched a variety of baby products, newborn clothes, and kidswear.”
MBT: How is your maternity wear brand filling a gap in the maternity fashion market in the country?
KB: Momzjoy currently delivers worldwide and has been able to make a visible positive impact on the lives of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers wherever we have our market reach. We have made several expecting and new mothers happy and are loved by a number of celebrities like Sania Mirza, Soha Ali Khan, Nisha Rawal, Chahat Khanna, and Chhavi Hussein.
Self-funded and sustainable and within four years of its launch, Momzjoy has achieved commendable growth. We have been awarded “The Best Maternity Wear Brand in India” 2019, 2018, 2017 & 2016 by leading parenting portal Kidsstoppress and “National Entrepreneurship Award 2018” by the Govt. of India (MSDE) and Businessworld’s “India’s Hottest Young Entrepreneurs 2017”.
MBT: How do you go about choosing the fabrics and the ways/means of producing your maternity and nursing apparel products?
KB: Momzjoy believes in sustainable slow fashion and a zero-waste policy wherein we ensure that the majority of our products are made-to-order thereby reducing our fabric wastage and carbon footprint. All our products are created in our in-house manufacturing unit. The fabrics that we use are a combination of softness, durability, and breathability. They are chosen in a way that they are soft and comfortable on pregnant and new mothers’ skin so that they can enjoy this beautiful phase of motherhood with ease.
“We have made several expecting and new mothers happy and are loved by a number of celebrities like Sania Mirza, Soha Ali Khan, Nisha Rawal, Chahat Khanna, and Chhavi Hussein.”
MBT: What is the current size of the Indian maternity wear and nursing wear market? Also, please describe the key trends in the maternity wear market.
KB: According to the market research estimates, the global maternity care market is expected to cross 9 billion USD, growing at a CAGR of 2.15% during 2017-2023. The Indian maternity wear market is currently worth 303 million USD (Rs. 2000 cr.) growing at CAGR of 16- 17% per annum. The major factors facilitating this growth are certainly a sense of awareness and style consciousness amongst women, financial independence, emerging women workforce, and affordability, among others. With these favourable and defining trends, the market holds the potential of providing more and better options of apparel and essentials for expecting and new mothers to make their motherhood memorable.
MBT: What are your future plans for the company? How do you wish to strengthen the presence of your brand?
KB: Our mission is to empower millions of expecting and new mothers through fashion. In the future, we plan to scale the business by further adding and promoting ancillary products that are natural additions to existing products. We also plan to have a strong offline presence by opening up flagship maternity needs stores, selling at multi-brand retail stores and building a strong export presence through extensive tie-ups globally.
MBT: In what ways do you think that the maternity wear market has transformed in the last decade?
KB: In India, women have started accepting maternity wear not as a luxury, but as a need. Most women are working, and even if they are not, they want to maintain their style statement and feel good in their clothes during pregnancy. What was once a combination of oversized clothing or men’s clothing to hide the baby bump, is now an expansive offering of stylish, trendy as well as functional maternity wear clothes that pregnant women are adopting in fashion, showing off their bump with confidence. With celebrities like Kareena Kapoor, Sania Mirza, Soha Ali Khan flaunting their bump with full aplomb, today’s women are picky about the fabric, flow, and design of the clothes they wear during and after pregnancy.
“we plan to scale the business by further adding and promoting ancillary products that are natural additions to existing products. We also plan to… open up flagship maternity needs stores, selling at multi-brand retail stores and building a strong export presence through extensive tie-ups globally.”
MBT: What is the current physical and online market presence of MomzJoy? As new entrants trying to get their foothold in this segment, how are you promoting your brand to gain an edge in the market?
KB: Currently Momzjoy ships its products worldwide and provides the option of Cash on Delivery (COD) and free shipping in India via our own ecommerce website. Our apparel products are also available at Amazon, Flipkart, and other multi-vendor e-commerce stores.
At Momzjoy, we focus on building long term relationships with our customers. Momzjoy currently reaches out to more than half a million mothers every month and has an active social media community of over 100K expecting and new moms. Pregnancy being an emotional journey with so many changes going on physically and mentally, we engage with our community of new and expecting mothers to become a part of their journey and work hard to support them to make them feel beautiful and confident during this time.
