Liz Lange, mother of 2 and fashion & retail icon in the world of maternity

as told by Butterfly co-founder Bradi Nathan

There are people that are just “packrats” by nature. They save everything and anything for the one rare occasion that the item might be sought after. My mom is headed to Florida this weekend and she busted out her wooden tennis racquet… I kid you not. The archaic sports equipment was “packed” away by the “rat.” Oh, that doesn’t sound good. My mom is nothing like a rat. Anyway, what I am saying is that some items just are not meant to be saved, period.

Maternity clothes are another great example. The “packrat” didn’t fall far from the tree (that’s me). Eight years ago I wore tented maternity wear to hide my watermelon sized knockers while pregnant with my son. Nothing I draped over my very large self was flattering or even cute for that matter but I saved every item down to my larger than life panties. Three years later I became pregnant with my daughter and it was my turn to bust out my archaic items. Yuck. Nothing fit well and the styles had completely changed. Liz Lange had emerged as a maternity pioneer with basic fitted pieces that hugged a woman’s pregnant figure.

The moral of the story is that Liz saved me from a future of Florida and wooden racquets and she can save you too. Liz Lange is the mother to Gus and Alice and is a fashion and retail icon in the world of maternity. Her upscale apparel line is sold at Nordstrom with her more affordable collection available at Target. Liz celebrates a woman’s body acknowledging that a woman should look and feel good during pregnancy. In an exclusive interview with Butterfly, Liz shares her journey of motherhood and maternity wear:

BN: Where were you at in your career when you had your first child?

LL: I had been in business (Liz Lange Maternity) for 3 months when I became pregnant with my first child, Gus. This was a problem - I had no employees other than me (!!) at the time.

BN: How did you alter your work schedule once you became a mother?

LL: I have to say that I was extremely busy when I gave birth to Gus in the Fall of 1998. I worked up until the night before I went into the hospital and then I worked from home for about 2 months before going back to work VERY full time. I was lucky as I had a fantastic nanny at home to help me with Gus.

BN: How difficult is it to juggle travel, the demands of Liz Lange and the needs of your family?

LL: The juggling of it all is definitely difficult. Frankly, as the children have gotten older, they are now 10 and 8, I find that they need me and I want to be there for them even more than when they were tiny. I try to do all my business travel as a day trip (even when it means taking a 5 a.m. flight) or as a single overnight only. Having a blackberry, a good nanny and good help at the office has definitely helped. 


BN: What advice do you have for women who are trying to do it all?

LL: It is very hard to try to "do it all" and women need to give themselves a break and not be so hard on themselves! I think we can all be somewhat self-punitive and it is important to remember that you are doing the best you can and your children know that.

BN: What role does your husband play in that equation?

LL: My husband works full time and I do think that as the mom, somehow I end up being the main caretaker of the children and the family. He is always home with them at night when I need to run out to business functions or personal appearances and he always makes it extra fun for them if/when I do need to travel for business.

BN: Your family must be proud of all that you have achieved as a mother and a woman?

LL: I think they are proud of me, I am definitely very proud of them.

BN: What type of role model do you hope to be?

LL: I hope that especially my daughter, Alice will know that she can follow her dreams and be anything she wants to be.

BN: What do your kids want to be when they grow up?

LL: My son Gus wants to be a professional baseball player or a rock star and my daughter Alice wants to be a: veterinarian, rock star, fashion designer and artist!

BN: What was the inspiration behind the original Liz Lange collection released years ago?

LL: I started the collection 10 years ago with the idea that traditional maternity clothing was too oversized and ugly for any woman! I thought that the clothing could be fitted and show off a woman's sexy and changing body and that the styling should be in the same taste as non-maternity clothing. I just wanted to design a very tasteful, beautiful and sexy line of clothing that happened to be for pregnant women.

BN: In what respect do you believe Liz Lange is helping mothers to celebrate their bodies?


LL: I hope that we are helping women feel good about themselves during this very special, exciting and yes, sexy, time in their lives. I want to empower women. Who can feel good about themselves or get anything done in a cheaply fabricated oversized muu-muu?

BN: What is your best selling item?

LL: We have become famous for the fit of our pants and our dresses.

BN: When did you know that Liz Lange had finally “arrived?”

LL: I guess I felt I had arrived when Nike called back in 2000 (before I even had a proper store front) and said that they wanted to partner with me on a line of maternity athletic apparel, Liz Lange for Nike. The partnership with Target came later

BN: What celebrities can be seen wearing your collection? How exciting is that?!?

LL: I love dressing all women but dressing celebrities is fun and I have been lucky to have dressed so many of them: Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Cate Blanchet, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Gretchen Moll, Kim Raver, Cynthia Nixon, Cindy Crawford, Angie Harmon, Kelli Ripa, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julianne Moore and so many others, I just can't fit them all in....

BN: If you could dress any expectant mother who would it be?

LL: Wow, that's hard as there are so many beautiful women out there whom I would love to dress.

BN: Any key fashion tips you’d like to share with expectant mothers?

LL: Most important key fashion tip for pregnant women: don't hide behind oversized maternity clothing that will make you look bigger! Wear fitted maternity clothing that show-off where you have some new curves and also where you don't.

BN: What is a maternity fashion “do” versus a maternity fashion “don’t?”

LL: Don't feel that you have to change your style just because you are pregnant. There are so many great fashion options out there today at every price point. Buy things that you love and feel beautiful and sexy in.

BN: What can mothers, expecting or not, find new from Liz Lange in 2009?

LL: I am so excited about our newly re-launched Liz Lange Collection line. I am particularly excited about all the great branded denim we are doing in every wash and fit imaginable. You must check it out - it’s fantastic. We recently launched a convertible line of super chic bags this past summer. They have all the fittings inside for all of your baby needs, but when you are done with that phase it can all just be lifted out. And they each come with a matching clutch so they are like 3 bags in 1!

BN: Are you a packrat too? J 


LL: I am a packrat by default. I end up not having the time to go through things and so they just accumulate. But thinking of this has inspired me to tackle my children’s rooms this weekend. Very daunting!!


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