Rather than hire models for the photo shoot, Australian fashion label owner Laila Fernandez (pictured), used real mums to showcase her label i&u’s Spring range. All the models photographed were real mums with real bodies and real babies in tow.
Mother and business owner Laila Fernandez created her label i&u after identifying a gap in the market for fashionable, yet affordable breast-feeding apparel.
“When I was breastfeeding my little boy, I struggled to find clothing I was comfortable in, still looked flattering on my post baby body and was also functional,” said Laila.
In keeping with her mission to create chic but functional clothing for mums, Laila chose real mums to showcase her most popular creation, the i&u signature dress.
“There is enough body issues to deal with post baby. To me it was important to portray a real and positive image for Mums post pregnancy.”
When designing her signature dress, Laila wanted to bring function into the design so she did away with fiddly plastic clips and introduced a stylish smarter looking magnetic clasp that just snaps back into place. Made from a special Bamboo (95%) and Spandex (5%) fabric, these are unique to her range of dresses and a first in the Australian market.
“We started with just one signature dress and have expanded our offering since,” said Laila. “We wanted to bring something new instead of simply reinventing the wheel. We achieved this by clever designs and unique trims, such as the magnetic drop down clasps, instead of the commonly used plastic clips.”
Using real mums instead of agency models made the i&u photo shoot especially memorable for photographer Nicole Herrick of Kids Style Hub.
“I have worked with many professional models over the years, but this shoot using real women was so much fun,” said Nicole. “As a real woman myself, lumps bumps and all, I think using real women is so refreshing. With models of all shapes and sizes the dresses looked amazing.”
One model mum Kellye Barton, said the experience was “a confidence boost to be a model for a day.”