The Story

Breastfeeding my four-month old twins again at 3am with my pajama top pulled up to my neck and my c-section scar exposed to the night air I thought, surely there must be clothing out there designed for breastfeeding that is more practical, comfortable and flattering.

I spent the last year - ie. every nap time of maternity leave - engineering clothing that would allow mothers to breastfeed and pump with ease and comfort in public. My amazing group of mum-friends tried on the prototypes, gave feedback on the fit and functionality, and watched the babies so that I could take a day trip to Paris to source the fabric for our first capsule collection. 

The more women I talked to the more convinced I was that there was a huge need in the market for beautiful and functional breastfeeding clothing. Women were returning to work earlier and earlier, and that often meant pumping a few times a day at their desk/pumping room/cubicle toilet. There was a growing industry of maternity clothing, but very little post-maternity fashion. Women also generally didn't want to wear their maternity clothes after giving birth (except for those incredible spandex waistband jeans that we still hold onto for Thanksgiving and other holiday meals ;-) ). 

After sketching the designs and creating ill-fitting prototypes at home, I worked with incredibly talented female pattern makers from couture design houses in London who were passionate about female form and creating a new style that would empower mothers to feed their babies anywhere anytime. 

As a mother who was still breastfeeding and pumping for twins, I was able to test all the designs and make quick changes with my amazing women-lead production team. 

When my husband and I moved our twins (and oldest baby, Tucker, our 9 year old labrador) to New York in February I had my samples, a few meters of each fabric, and paper patterns of each design carefully packed in my carryon. I reached out to friends who connected me to designers and fashion entrepreneurs who generously shared their production and vendor contacts across the Garment District. I brought the babies with me on the subway to the Garment district for factory visits, fittings with sample makers, and meetings with label and packaging designers. They were fascinated with all the colors and sounds, and had the patience of about 1 carrot stick, which made for super efficient quick meetings! 

After careful thought I decided to launch with only one of our signature pieces, The Dress - the LBD for the modern mama. The Dress is the cornerstone of the capsule collection, and really the essential piece for every woman's wardrobe. It is classic, comfortable, sexy, versatile - and just happens to have a patent-pending design of hidden magnets and a high lite compression waist to complement breastfeeding and pumping in public. 

I hope when mamas put on The Dress they feel fabulous and empowered. As a company our mission is to engineer clothing that makes women feel beautiful and confident. We think that designing clothing for breastfeeding and pumping is a creative challenge that allows us to rethink technical design from a mothers point of view. And we'd love to hear from more mamas about what they need most in terms of style and functionality so that we can decide what pieces to launch next! 

At leSolstice we’re building a brand for the woman who wants it all. 
We’re obsessed with technical design and sourcing the most luxurious washable fabric 
We’re doing sustainable small batch production in the heart of NYC
We believe clothing should be both flattering and functional
We believe “fashionable breastfeeding” should no longer be an oxymoron 
leSolstice,
...when every day is the longest day, and every night is the longest night.