It’s giving mother: Fashion’s It-girls are redefining maternity style

“Maternity wear has evolved significantly, becoming more and more stylish. Modern women no longer feel the need to compromise on their personal style and trends just because they’re expecting,” agrees Paige Adams-Geller, founder of Paige denim. “At Paige, we have been focused on increasing our maternity offerings each season, based on our best-selling styles so our customers can maintain the same fit and style they’ve come to love.”

So what makes maternity wear truly empowering in 2024? And where does the line between empowerment and unrealistic expectations blur?

Are gender roles being broken down only to be rebuilt?

Motherhood is not the only stage of a woman’s life that has been reinvented lately. “Gen Z isn’t doing away with tradition — they’re redefining it, agrees Singh. “We saw this happen in the last year as wedding attire modernised into Bridalcore,” he adds, referencing the rise of “cool girl wedding dresses” that are reconceiving the centuries-old tradition. “It’s no wonder that maternity wear is next to be graced with Gen Z’s signature, tradition-breaking touch, rife with references to modern technology (see: Schiaparelli’s electro-baby).”

At DTS they’ve even termed a larger zeitgeist trend as “Womancore” as a reference to the explosion of cores and niche microtrends specifically tailored to different aspects of being a woman. However, not everyone is thrilled by this development. “I think many current popular aesthetics, whether it be clean-girl or mob wife, have operated in compartmentalising, and sometimes diminishing, feminine agency,” says fashion commentator Alexandra Hildreth.

“With the current [pregnancy] aesthetic movement, the whole goal is to look as put together as possible at all times — even when nine months pregnant,” she continues, pointing to the “tradwife” movement, spearheaded by creator Nara Smith, who just had her third baby at 22 years old. Smith posts viral TikToks cooking for her husband and children, often dressed in fresh off-the-runway Chanel or Miu Miu. During her pregnancy, she posted almost daily TikTok content, garnering millions of views. “While she is an incredibly popular and viral model and creator that it makes sense [for brands] to dress and gift, the timeline at which she’s taken off is representative of people turning towards these kinds of traditional and conservative aesthetics,” Hildreth says.

Rihanna is seen outside the Dior show, during Paris Fashion Week.

Photo: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images