The dress Davina wore
by Maggie Hartford, The Oxford Times
Published: Friday 18th August 2006
Things have been busier than usual at e-commerce maternity wear company Definitely Baby - and it is all thanks to TV celebrity Davina McCall. Co-owner Pippa Allbrook said: "We had a definite increase in inquiries after she appeared in our dress.
"Now, if you search on Google for Davina McCall maternity wear' our name is at the top of the list. That has definitely had an effect on us."
That dress' - a cap-sleeved number with a twist-front - was tailor-made by the company for Davina and was part of a package sent to the TV star via her agent.
"She said she would like to try some of our clothes, but we had no idea whether she would wear them on TV, or when."
Ms Allbrook and her partner Mark Aston were glued to the first few episodes of Big Brother and had to wait until episode 12, when Davina introduced two new housemates into the Big Brother house. "We were over the moon," said Ms Allbrook. "It was really exciting."
The company was launched in March after a long gestation. "When I was pregnant, I couldn't find anything to wear. I realised what a lack of choice of maternity wear there is in Oxford," said Ms Allbrook.
"We had looked at various options for a business, like nursery equipment, but the one thing that people kept coming back to was maternity wear. We looked at opening a shop but for the time being, we have a private appointment service, so that people can come in and try on the clothes. It has to be by appointment because of our lease."
Having spent her pregnancy in jeans and big T-shirts because she could not find anything to wear, Ms Allbrook was confident that there was a demand for stylish clothes for expanding waistlines.
"If I had something special to go to, I ended up going to Evans - I'm not the thinnest of people at the best of times. There are very few companies that provide clothes for the larger or smaller pregnant women.
"We also offer an alterations service, with bigger sizes and different lengths, so that we can offer people a choice."
She added: "It's such an important time for women and it's not good if you feel rubbish about yourself. One of the nicest things is when you feel something looks really good on you - you feel confident going out."
Neither of the pair has given up the day job - both work in the IT section of Unipart at Cowley.
Since the birth of Molly, now 21 months old, Pippa has worked part-time at Unipart, as well as nurturing the new company.
She said: "We do a lot of work in the evenings when Molly is asleep. It was very slow to start with, but things are picking up. We have appeared in quite a few magazines - Practical Parenting, Pregnancy and Birth and Prima Baby - and the web browsers are finding us now, with our ranking going up.
At the moment we just want to progress up through the rankings and become well known.
"Eventually, we would like to think about opening a shop locally and selling swimwear, underwear and nightwear, changing bags and lotions and potions, and maybe baby clothes."
So far, they have held their nerve through the difficult process of giving birth to a new business.
"Of course it's scary," said Ms Allbrook. "I am feeling a little more confident than I was a few weeks ago, because we were concerned that Google was not recognising our link.
"But we have seen a definite improvement in sales recently and our clothes are getting a lot of coverage in the magazines."
Contact: www.definitelybaby.com or call 01869 331336
