A Northern Beaches Mum is making luxurious, designer maternity gowns accessible to all women around the country while benefiting the environment.
Local entrepreneur and environmentalist Alice Huang has created Australia’s first sustainable maternity dress hire business, Mama Rentals, which is 100% waste free.
“Everything we do is about reducing our carbon footprint. Our custom-made garment bags that we use to pack our garments are 55% linen and 45% cotton and made to last. They are washed and reused for each rental. Our mailing satchels, packing tape and shipping labels are all compostable.” Ms Huang said,
“I actually compost all returned satchels from customers at my home. We do all our washing, steaming, and drying on site with eco-friendly, fragrance-free washing powder and all facilities are run on solar power.”
The idea came about six years ago, when Alice searched for a dress for her own maternity photoshoot.
Unable to justify the cost to her bank account or the environment, she decided to start her own dress hire business.
Alice credits the Northern Beaches community for helping her get her business off the ground. While she offers postage nationwide, there were local Northern Beaches Mums who picked up orders and helped her business grow.
“I started with just a few dresses in my wardrobe, as a side hustle while still working at my digital marketing job. I now work fulltime at Mama Rentals, I’ve built a dedicated studio for the business in my backyard, and hired two part-time staff,” Ms Huang said.
“As a sole provider of my family, I’m pretty proud I was able to create something that can sustain myself and my family, while being able to spend so much time with my daughter every day.”
It hasn’t been without its challenges. In the early days of Mama Rentals, Alice was a single Mum juggling the business while solo-parenting and sleep-deprived with a wakeful toddler.
But her determination to make a life she and her daughter could be proud of led her to keep going.
Now Mama Rentals, based in Forestville has grown to be Australia’s largest maternity dress hire business with almost 400 dresses and sizes ranging from size 4 to size 22.
Alice also supports other local businesses, working alongside many Northern Beaches photographers, helping Sydney Mums feel beautiful for all occasions.
The gowns aren’t restricted to pregnant women. They’re for women during all stages of life, for photoshoots, weddings, or special events, designed to flatter postpartum bodies and many are breastfeeding friendly.
“I realised there is a real gap for ladies from size 16 up. So many of them tell me they can’t find anything that fits them during pregnancy, which is a real shame and I wanted to change that and empower women of all shapes and sizes,” Ms Huang said.
“I’m proud that Mama Rentals has the largest plus size (16-22) maternity range in Australia and it is only getting bigger. We have made so many plus size ladies, in their own words, feel more beautiful than they ever have in their entire life, during pregnancy.”
Mama Rentals will soon be trialling reusable mailing satchels for smaller parcels to be even more sustainable.
Pick up from Forestville is also available for local Mums who’d like to save on postage.
Fashion Waste Stats:
- Each Australian disposes an average 23kg of clothing to landfill each year.
- Clothing waste is one of the largest contributors to Australia’s waste problem.
- Australians are the world’s second largest consumers of textiles.
- The average person only wears 40% of their clothes.
For more information visit https://mamarentals.com.au/