ROOTS OF INSPIRATION
Our story begins a few years ago when one of the teammates', Chelsea's, mother was pregnant with her baby brother. Although her mother needed maternity jackets to keep warm in New York’s freezing winter, she refused to buy one and struggled to keep warm with her existing jacket. Chelsea was both curious and worried that she talked to her mother about it. Through the conversation, Chelsea understood that her reluctance to buy maternity wear was due to how costly maternity wear on the market is; not only this, but she felt it wouldn’t be used again after the nine months of pregnancy. Chelsea’s mother also revealed that her obstetrician had mentioned that the elastic bands currently used in most maternity wear can potentially result in poor circulation for the baby. Chelsea came up with our signature zipper design and created our initial prototype by using one of her old sweaters and installing zippers and fabric on the sides.
Our story begins a few years ago when one of the teammates', Chelsea's, mother was pregnant with her baby brother. Although her mother needed maternity jackets to keep warm in New York’s freezing winter, she refused to buy one and struggled to keep warm with her existing jacket. Chelsea was both curious and worried that she talked to her mother about it. Through the conversation, Chelsea understood that her reluctance to buy maternity wear was due to how costly maternity wear on the market is; not only this, but she felt it wouldn’t be used again after the nine months of pregnancy. Chelsea’s mother also revealed that her obstetrician had mentioned that the elastic bands currently used in most maternity wear can potentially result in poor circulation for the baby. Chelsea came up with our signature zipper design and created our initial prototype by using one of her old sweaters and installing zippers and fabric on the sides.
Likewise, as a daughter and an environmentally aware teen, Christine was very interested in finding ways to help others in Chelsea's mother's shoes and was empathetic toward her situation. Raised in a family that is very conscious of their carbon footprints and their surrounding environments, Christine is passionate about finding ways to combat and reduce human waste. She is also comprehensive of the environmental impacts caused by fast fashion and hopes ZigZag Mommy will be a step for a better future. By taking a step back and reflecting on the circumstances, it was clear to Christine and Chelsea that the change needed can simply be from personal lifestyles and choices.
Although many types of maternity clothing are available on the market, they are often expensive and are differentiated by stages of pregnancy. Chelsea and Christine wanted to offer maternity clothing that changes as a woman’s body does throughout her pregnancy. With a powerful passion for entrepreneurship, Chelsea and Christine joined hands as a dynamic duo, determined to find a way to alleviate these struggles. Together, they perfected the zipper design and pitched their business startup at multiple business competitions.
Although many types of maternity clothing are available on the market, they are often expensive and are differentiated by stages of pregnancy. Chelsea and Christine wanted to offer maternity clothing that changes as a woman’s body does throughout her pregnancy. With a powerful passion for entrepreneurship, Chelsea and Christine joined hands as a dynamic duo, determined to find a way to alleviate these struggles. Together, they perfected the zipper design and pitched their business startup at multiple business competitions.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR ZIGZAG MOMMY?
As we are still in the first stages of our start-up, we hope to take our company further through business competitions and potential investors and mentors. Currently, our prototype is a black zip-up RPET sweater and with metal zippers on both sides. In the future, our goal is to offer a variety of colors and also offer customization of different embroideries.
We want to start to create sample products for manufacturing and distribution. This will be started by hiring a design specialist to create the blueprint of our product and find an experienced RPET material manufacturer to produce our samples. With the sample, we will conduct several testings on various women in pregnancy to find the best sizing and tweak our design to its best. We expect this process to be done several times until we receive positive feedback from all testers and create the perfect sample. Then, we will decide on all details such as color, fabric, cost, design, labeling, packaging, etc. to start manufacturing and advertising our product online.
We plan to take care of the shipments and packaging ourselves until we have enough traction to hire employees. The initial production of the items are expected to be expensive as we aren’t ordering large quantities, but the cost will decrease as we start to place bigger orders.
As we are still in the first stages of our start-up, we hope to take our company further through business competitions and potential investors and mentors. Currently, our prototype is a black zip-up RPET sweater and with metal zippers on both sides. In the future, our goal is to offer a variety of colors and also offer customization of different embroideries.
We want to start to create sample products for manufacturing and distribution. This will be started by hiring a design specialist to create the blueprint of our product and find an experienced RPET material manufacturer to produce our samples. With the sample, we will conduct several testings on various women in pregnancy to find the best sizing and tweak our design to its best. We expect this process to be done several times until we receive positive feedback from all testers and create the perfect sample. Then, we will decide on all details such as color, fabric, cost, design, labeling, packaging, etc. to start manufacturing and advertising our product online.
We plan to take care of the shipments and packaging ourselves until we have enough traction to hire employees. The initial production of the items are expected to be expensive as we aren’t ordering large quantities, but the cost will decrease as we start to place bigger orders.