SUSTAINABILITY, ETHICS & OUR MANUFACTURING PARTNERS

Our vision

MAMA MUSE is a passion project owned and operated by mum-of-three, Stephanie Bailey, based in Sydney, Australia. The focus has always been about bringing longevity to maternity wear with timeless, high quality pieces that transcend pregnancy, work with your existing wardrobe and allow women to stay true to their pre-pregnancy style aesthetic.

Our 'buy now, wear forever' ethos has allowed the brand to quickly become synonymous with quality and thoughtful design, delivering enduring pieces that genuinely go 'beyond the bump'.

We're not about seasons or keeping up with the latest trend. Our approach to design and production is perfectly encapsulated by Michael Bastian’s quote - ‘Buy less, buy better and really wear it’. 

Fabrics

Our fabric selection is important to us and the environment. As much as possible, we aim to use natural fibres such as viscose, cotton, bamboo, modal and wool as they biodegrade more readily than synthetic fibres and release non-hazardous chemicals during this process.

Better quality fabric selection means our clothing lasts longer and stands up to repeated wear and washing, this is crucial since maternity clothing is typically worn on high rotation for intense periods of time. 

Well-made clothing that is designed with longevity at the forefront means that our customers keep the clothes for longer, wear them more often, have less need to continuously replace key basics and ultimately, less chance of them ending up in landfill. 

Efforts to avoid surplus stock & our manufacturing partners

Many of our styles are as relevant today as when they were first released. You will see on our site that the majority of styles form part of our permanent collection, which are ordered and replenished in small quanitites as needed.

MAMA MUSE is the antithesis of ‘fast fashion’. By having a highly edited collection of maternity and nursing essentials, we produce styles we know our customers will cherish rather than contributing to the global surplus stock crisis by pushing out endless cycles of new collections every season.

By having longer production schedules and a carefully curated mix, we are able to reduce the need for a cycle of deep discounting and wastage, and instead focus on a purchasing mindset that is not solely focussed on the ‘new’.

Currently we have 24 styles in the collection, with plans to slowly build on that year on year. In 2021 we plan to release a further 5-10 styles.

We work with three manufacturing agents based in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. Their partner factories are based in China and Bali. We are happy to pay the higher production costs that come with engaging a reputable manufacturing agent as this helps to ensure the factories are adhering to the highest ethical and environmental standards.

In an effort to reduce surplus stock, wastage and ultimately the possibility of our clothing ending up in landfill, we order the minimum order quantity and replenish best sellers as needed.

Our order quantities are currently as follows:

• Dubai Agent (for our Bali factory) – 50 pieces per style per colour
• Singapore Agent (for our China factory) – 80 pieces per style per colour
• Hong Kong Agent (for a second China factory) – 100 pieces per style per colour

By ordering in smaller quantities, we pay a higher purchase price for the stock and have lower margins but that’s a price we’re willing to pay to reduce wastage and avoid the deep discounting strategy many fast-fashion retailers adopt. We manufacture in response to product demand rather than risk contributing to ever-worsening global surplus stock problem.

We ensure the values our manufacturing partners and the factories they engage are aligned to our own. This includes paying fair and above average wages, ensuring safe working conditions, regulated working hours and strictly no child labour.

Below is Kai, Donovan, You Bing and Xinjing – just some of the production team based in Singapore who make our clothes. With the brand's founder having lived in Singapore for six years, we worked closely with the team before relocating and launching the business in Sydney, Australia. Kai and his team carefully handpick the factories to ensure their ongoing commitment to fair trade practices to prevent the exploitation of workers or natural resources.

This includes vetting the factories first hand making sure the working conditions are safe, workers are paid fairly, fabric mills are GOTS and OEKO-TEX 100 certified and the dyes used are made from environmentally friendly ink.

They also ensure the clothing is well-made by having stricter than industry standard quality control practices in place. Items are inspected at every major point of the production process, including fabric, printing, cutting and the finished product. They ensure every order meets our expectations and that a minimum of 30% of our product output is inspected by Quality Control (QC) personnel with at least 5 -10 years’ experience.  Should any product fail the inspection, a further 30% of that order is tested and the process repeated until 100% QC is achieved.

Our Bali manufacturing partners value their staff, working conditions and the environment. The factory is fully registered and licensed as a garment manufacturing company in Indonesia. We have visited the factory and seen first-hand the excellent working conditions and their efforts to be as sustainable as possible by minimising fabric wastage, rubbish output and using bio-degradable packaging where possible.

They have long term staff who have worked with them for more than 10 years, largely due to the high quality of work standards and benefits provided, some of which include:  

• Staff are always paid on time and above average wages, including a regular bonus 
• Medical insurance is paid for the staff as well as retirement pensions
• Contributions are made to their children’s education/schooling
• Uniforms and lunch, snacks are provided, there is also staff kitchen and staff social room for lunch breaks
• Outside is a lovely garden with table and chairs for the staff to enjoy on their breaks
• Staff work 9am-5pm (with a 1 hour lunch break) and have weekends off, as well as all public holidays
• There is paid sick leave
• Transport allowance for their petrol
• Scheduled staff social events

We are happy to pay the higher production prices as these are a reflection of our shared values, quality clothing production and ensuring staff are paid above average wages.

Social responsibility

We’re a brand owned and run by an Aussie mum that cares about women, especially new mothers and children. Since launching MAMA MUSE has proudly supported Mothers2mothers, an international NGO that unlocks the potential of women in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate paediatric AIDS and create healthy families.

Each month we donate proceeds from our profits to this amazing charity which is close to our hearts. By choosing to buy our clothing and support our brand, you have joined global efforts to create a HIV-free generation, and bring health and hope to new mothers and children that need it most.

If you have any queries at all regarding our ethics or sustainability efforts please email stephanie@mama-muse.com  🌿