Following a deep dive on its customers, revealing that more than 50% are mothers, clothing brand Parker NY decided to let the data inform its next product launch. The result was a small collection of matching dresses for moms and their daughters.
Just in time for Mother’s Day, Parker NY will be dropping a “mommy and me” capsule collection as the brand looks to expand into new categories. At this point, the brand, which is sold online and with retail partners from Saks Fifth Avenue to Shopbop, isn’t running with an official launch of mommy-and-me apparel. Instead, it’s testing four dresses (two for moms, two for daughters) with existing customers to see if it’s an avenue worth fully investing in. If the four dresses sell out, then Parker NY will create more styles. The brand, which launched in 2008, declined to share any information about its size or growth.
“We hope these products will create a greater emotional connection with our customer when she sees that she can buy a couple of Parker items for her daughter, as well, and it’s a matching mommy-and-me set,” said Suzanne Silverstein, Parker NY president.
Over the past six months, Parker NY worked with data-driven marketing agency Epsilon to dive into customer insights and figure out more about the women shopping with the brand. Through that process, Silverstein said she and her marketing team held focus groups with top customers to find out what they liked about the brand and what they wanted to see more of in the future. While some customers have been asking the brand to expand into kids’ clothing, Silverstein said there hasn’t been much of an ask for mommy-and-me styles. In focus groups, however, shoppers said they were open to the idea of such a line.
“I think we are doing the right thing, in terms of our ability to gauge interest at a peak time — around Mother’s Day and going into summer wedding season. What we are hoping to get out of it is more data so that we can better inform our decision going forward about additional categories like this,” said Silverstein.
The timing is also right considering so many brands are either launching their own mommy-and-me lines or attempting to fill holes in the mommy-and-me market. A quick search for #MommyAndMeFashion on Instagram reveals over 100,000 posts. Most recently luxury swimwear brand Onia partnered with Christy Turlington Burns’ nonprofit Every Mother Counts to launch a line of matching one-piece bathing suits for moms and daughters. Brands from Anthropologie to Fashion Nova have their own collections, while Rent the Runway just announced its expansion into childrenswear, including mommy-and-me styles, at the start of April.
At the end of March, Instagram influencer and former “The Bachelor” contestant Amanda Stanton (1.2 million Instagram followers) launched Lani the Label, a clothing line selling mommy-and-me pieces for under $90. The initial collection launched with 15 pieces and sold out within the week. Stephanie Park, marketing director for Lani the Label, said as soon as the brand restocks items, they sell out within days, proving there’s a desire for these types of clothing lines among mom shoppers — especially those following influencers on Instagram and other social media.
“Amanda felt that there was a market need, not for a mommy-and-me brand, but for a cool mommy-and-me brand that was in fashion,” said Park. “All of these mommy-and-me brands were reaching out to her to collaborate, but most of them were just cheesy.”
