Like most women, Danielle Ryan struggled to look stylish when she was pregnant with her daughter, Penny-Laine.
Her clothes strained at the waist and it was hard to feel comfortable. The lifelong fashion lover decided women needed clothes that would expand throughout their pregnancies. When she failed to find the clothes she wanted, her company Penny Posh was born.
That was five years ago. Ryan, previously a director of business development for an Alberta land company, turned herself into a clothes designer, coming up with two novel garments: a sleek faux-leather jacket and a cosy hoodie. Both have subtle stretch panels in the sides that expand as the mother’s body grows and shrink back after she has given birth, while still allowing space for a baby to snuggle in close to Mom’s body.
St. John’s-based Ryan launched her venture in November. Her clientele is now growing and so is her product line.
“I was surprised at how difficult it was to find maternity wear that would fit my blossoming body and still allow me to feel sexy and stylish at the same time,” she said by phone from her Newfoundland base.
“The St. John’s climate reminded me of the need for maternity jackets that will zip up over a growing belly and remain zipped. When I was pregnant, I had broken zippers all the time,” she said with a laugh.
It took Ryan four years to learn how to design clothes. She was helped by Julia and Bonnie Cook, a mother and daughter team who co-own Newfoundland company AbbyShot Clothiers.
“I would send over sketches and Julia would forward them to their technical designer,” Ryan said.
“Bonnie helped guide me on the business side of manufacturing, and they also facilitated my manufacturing overseas.”
The new entrepreneur has also been fortunate with her father, Bruce, who is her financier.
“After watching me work on these designs for four years, Dad saw my passion and financed my whole project.”
Ryan’s garments are sold at Bellies & Bundles Maternity Boutique in St. John’s, but her focus is on growing her online market because online retail allows her to keep more of her profits and expand her client base nationally and even internationally.
So far, most of her clients are based in St. John’s and Ontario, but she is working with a branding firm on putting together a pitch in the hopes of selling her clothes to large American department stores.
“Our fake leather jacket currently sells for $139. Our mid-level price points are perfect for medium- to higher-end department stores. We think it’s a good fit,” she said, “excuse the pun.”
Despite being new to this line of work, Ryan feels she has got off to a good start. She credits her early Facebook party and her launch, which was held in conjunction with the national Oh baby! magazine, for giving her business an initial splash and attracting early clients.
“I’d highly recommend this kind of partnership to anyone starting out. You want to reach as many people as you can.”
She had initially planned to call her company Penny-Laine after her daughter and was disappointed to find the name heavily trademarked.
“But Penny Posh is working out. My faux leather jacket is posh. It looks and feels real. It’s the image we’re after. The name flows nicely.”
She is working on new designs for a blazer and leggings that will be available this summer. Jeans, which are unexpectedly tricky to design, are planned for the fall.
