Designer Diane Watts and, inset, baby Kaiya
A fashion student who had a baby in the middle of studying for her degree has set up her own business selling her own bespoke maternity wear.
Diane Watt, 23, who was studying Fashion & Textile Design with Enterprise, fell pregnant just half way through her course. But instead of giving up her studies, she put things on hold for a few months and drew inspiration from her the experience to start designing her own range of maternity wear. She has already launched her business, Blossom Sweetly, and graduates from the University of Portsmouth today.
She said that the idea was born from the difficulty she had finding flattering clothes as her shape changed during pregnancy. “My friends who were expecting babies had the same trouble. The clothes available were expensive, limited and usually rather dull. I wanted to use my expertise to design something stylish and modern which fits today’s twenty-first century woman.”
Diane gave birth to baby Kaiya, 14 months ago and said that having a child had made her want to work on something she loves doing and to push herself to provide for her daughter.
She said: “I’m also researching the way mum’s breastfeed and looking to improve on what’s on the market currently for nursing mums.”
Diane, who lives in Southsea, has produced six unique designs for a spring/summer 2013 collection. It includes a maxi dress, a stylish tunic top, a blouse and a summer dress. She is currently running a made to order service and is making all the garments herself but plans to outsource some of the work as the business grows. A catalogue of the same name is planned for the 2013 collection.
She said: “The enterprise element of my course means we learned about the commercial side of fashion as well as design. And I’m getting more advice and support from the University’s Centre for Enterprise.
“It’s a new venture that I hope will fit in with my new life taking care of Kaiya while I carve out a career in fashion from home.”
Diane’s venture is a collaboration with Southampton University graduate, Charlotte Gofton. They are working on their website which she hopes to have up and running in the next few weeks.
