MATERNAL
With her new label, supermodel
BIANCABALTIis setting out
to change the conversation around
maternity fashion.
By MADELINE WOON
TYLISH ISN’T A WORD we readily associate with
maternity wear. Sure, practical options are aplenty —
elastic waistbands that promise to expand in harmony
with swelling bellies and stretchy jersey dresses that
accommodate the ballooning of one’s midsection —
but finding an outfit that makes you feel glamorous
ay, sexy? Unlikely. It’s a gaping hole that supermodel
Bianca Balti is looking to plug with her eponymous new fashion
line, which debuted at Milan fashion week this past September.
When I phone Balti at her family home in California, she is
taking a rare pause from her busy schedule (alongside the brand
and her work as a model, Balti has two daughters – Matilde, 12,
and Mia, three). From the outset, her warm and ebullient energy
is palpable and contagious.As is the way with many fashion brands, Balti’s maternity line
was born out of need. “During my first pregnancy I had a hard
time finding things to wear to special occasions, and especially
when I attended Festival de Cannes,” she recalls. “I really strug-
gled. I think it’s such a wonderful moment in a woman’s life, yet I
really felt upset and uncomfortable and ugly at times — I felt that
I had to give up on my style. I made a promise to myself back then
—One day, I am going to fill the gap.”
Fast-forward 11 years and she’s made good on that pledge. In
accordance with her slow fashion ethos, the road from her initial
lightning bolt of inspiration to launching has been a long and
considered one, not without its share of doubt-shaped speed bumps.
“It took me a long time to find the courage to start a business,”
she admits. “We decided to start slowly — we wanted to under-INSTINCT
Bianca Balti with
daughters Mia (left)
and Matilde.60 HARPERSBAZAAR.COM.AU April 2019
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