Roughly six million women are pregnant each year in the United States. That’s six million women whose bodies will change rapidly — in many cases making it impossible to fit into previous wardrobes. Many women find fewer options for maternity clothes than they would for normal outfits.

Nonetheless, maternity wear is a $2 billion industry. Ugly or not, women have to find something to wear over their growing bellies. It’s an intensely complicated issue. What clothes do women have to buy while pregnant? Is it worth investing in pieces that won’t fit in several months? Why haven’t major retailers solved this yet? 

Within the broader landscape of maternity wear, one type of staple item is more necessary than others. Over 80% of babies are breastfed after birth, and 57.6% of them are still breastfeeding at six months old. Therefore, millions of mothers are using their breasts in an entirely new way, and their wardrobe has to comply. Nursing bras are essential for many mothers, but historically they’ve been associated with words like “frumpy” and “plain.” 

Pregnant women and new moms are in need of a better clothing solution, for both their nursing bras and overall maternity clothing. It’s time for some enterprising company to infuse a sense of modern fashion into pregnancy and motherhood. 

Ollie Gray is a maternity and motherhood fashion company infusing style and functionality into staple pieces for pregnant and postpartum women. Currently, Ollie Gray offers one flagship product in a number of colors and styles: the Anywhere Bra — a two-in-one pumping and nursing bra for breastfeeding moms. 

The Anywhere Bra retails for $68, and Ollie Gray reports a monthly average customer acquisition cost (CAC) of $33. The company’s return rate is 7.5%. Unsurprisingly, Ollie Gray’s DTC e-commerce strategy is driven by digital marketing. The company boasts a 4.37% purchase rate from Facebook and Instagram and a 3.4% purchase rate from Google Ad Words. Ollie Gray indicates that these metrics are above average compared to industry benchmarks. 

Anywhere Bras are also sold in large part due to partnerships with influencers and public relations campaigns. Ollie Gray has been featured by Desiree Siegfried, Aaryn Williams, Laura Clery, and other top influencers. The company has also been featured in maternity wear roundups from PEOPLE, Popsugar, and Women’s Day. This publicity has generated over 22,000 followers for the Ollie Gray Instagram account. 

Ollie Gray began on Kickstarter, launching a campaign for a better nursing bra in 2016 and raising 330% of its funding goal. The Anywhere Bra launched two years later in June of 2018. The company generated over $460,000 in sales that year, followed by $718,000 in 2019. 

Ollie Gray was founded by a husband-and-wife team, Kate and Bryce Rech. Kate Rech is an attorney and mother of two who transitioned out of owning a law practice in Charlotte, NC to design the Anywhere Bra and devote herself to Ollie Gray. Her husband, Bryce, serves as the company’s CEO. He previously worked in various marketing roles and focuses on Ollie Gray’s brand development. 

While Ollie Gray currently only sells one product, the company ultimately aims to become a leader in maternity and postpartum wear across all types of clothing — including dresses, shoes, tops, pants, and more. The immediate roadmap includes an expansion of bras and intimates, development of maternity accessories like shoes, and then large-scale expansion into other clothing items. The company is currently developing plus-sizing for the Anywhere Bra and plans to launch those sizes in November 2020. Subsequently, new product lines are slated for launch in March 2021. 

Over the next several years, Ollie Gray projects that revenue will grow substantially. 2020 retail revenue is projected to hit $1.4 million, with a net loss of $86,000. The company expects to hit profitability in 2021, with $4.5 million in revenue and $685,000 in net profit. By 2023, the company projects an ambitious $27.9 million in annual revenue.

Ollie Gray has recorded substantial initial traction and has built a valuable brand on social media. However, the company is operating in a competitive space and has been slow to develop additional product lines to diversify revenue. 

On the positive side, Ollie Gray’s partnerships with influencers and ability to be featured in major publications are valuable assets. The brand’s following on Instagram and sales traction over the last two years indicates that Ollie Gray and the Anywhere Bra resonate with postpartum women. The Anywhere Bra appears to be high-quality. The fun colors and patterns alongside functional two-in-one design are a step above the traditional maternity bra. Ollie Gray is providing a solution to a widespread issue — the lack of modern and stylish maternity wear available for the 2020 mom. 

On the other hand, the scale of the maternity wear opportunity means that Ollie Gray faces stiff competition from other brands also trying to provide fashionable maternity clothes. Companies like HATCH and Storq also offer cute maternity clothes and have received substantial venture capital investments to fund growth. These companies offer a much wider variety of products than Ollie Gray. The lack of product innovation that Ollie Gray has accomplished in four years is a concerning signal that the company may not be able to grow fast enough to outpace these competitors. Of course, this slow growth in a competitive space has implications for Ollie Gray’s exit potential. While major clothing retailers are likely to snap up leading maternity brands in the next several years, Ollie Gray would be a less attractive candidate than more fully-developed brands unless it dramatically expands its product portfolio to great success. 

Therefore, Ollie Gray sends some positive and some negative signals to prospective investors. Ollie Gray seems to have the brand and traction needed to cement itself as a mid-sized DTC fashion company. However, competition in the space (matched with the company’s seeming inability to innovate quickly) may mean that Ollie Gray will only ever grow to a mid-sized business — not a major brand competing with market leaders or a lucrative exit opportunity for investors. Therefore, Ollie Gray is a Neutral deal.