As worn by Davina on Big Brother!!

We've spoken to the two Mothers, Vanessa Knox-Brien and Baukjen de Swaan Arons behind the gorgeous Maternity wear label Isabella Oliver...fans include Davina McCall and Trinny Woodhall.

As we've spoken to both Vanessa and Baukjen, we have colour coded their answers so you can see who said what! Vanessa's answers are in blue, Baukjen's answers are in red.

What is your background?

I was a lingerie/ sleepwear designer (Victoria's Secret) in New York, met up with a long lost friend of 10 years while he was visiting New York for the weekend, 6 months later I'm living in London planning my wedding. I carried on my design job in NY travelling back and forth every month until after I got married and was pregnant with Isabella that I realised I needed to decide what I was going to do with my career - I couldn't carry on travelling like that once I had a baby. I came up with the idea of a maternity capsule wardrobe when I was out on my very frustrating shopping trips looking for simple, stylish maternity clothes - especially the basics. Such a simple concept but it wasn't out there. On my travels I came across other girls experiencing the same dilemma and the rest is history!

I was born in Amsterdam and moved over to London when I was 5. I lived here until I was 18 and went to do my bachelors and masters in Economics in Holland and this is where I met my husband, Geoff. After completing my studies I worked for a few years as the product manager of the consumer mobile phone brand in Holland and then Geoff and I moved to London where I joined Orange as international product and brand manager. This involved travelling all over the world which was a fabulous experience.

What inspired you to set up Isabella Oliver?

A few weeks before my due date my husband and I were having a weekend away in the country and I met Baukjen by the hotel pool - also very heavily pregnant. We got talking and realised that we both had a strong desire to set up business on our own but probably lacked the resources to do it all on our own. As we got talking we realised what a complimentary skill set we had to get this thing off the ground and with the encouragement from our friends and husbands we had every reason to go for it.

A few things really got the ball rolling. Firstly I always wanted to own and run my own business. Secondly, Vanessa and I felt there was an unanswered need in the maternity wear market for stylish, simple, comfortable and sexy clothes and thirdly Vanessa and I have complimentary skills and we felt we'd make a good team

Where does the name Isabella Oliver come from?

Our first born children, Isabella (mine) and Oliver (Baukjen's)

We thought about loads of names such as metro mama, city mama, Hip mama etc etc but we all felt they were a bit cheesy. Then we thought about using actual names but Vanessa Baukjen wasn't an option for obvious reasons!! And then Isabella Oliver came up and it just felt right.

What makes your maternity wear different?

It is seasonless, and timeless and goes effortlessly from day into evening from casual to dressy.

Its stylish and timeless, grows with you throughout your pregnancy and is made of lovely fabrics. Also Vanessa and I spend quite a bit of time on the tips. I found that when I became pregnant I had no idea initially on how to dress. I've got years of experience for my normal figure and know which styles will and wont suit me but when I became pregnant my figure completely changed and I could have used some advice, so we try to do that as much as we can.

It must be fantastic when celebrity mums-to-be wear your designs - who have you been the most pleased to see wearing Isabella Oliver?

I guess that would be Trinny Woodall and Davina McCall, who is the most recent. We have had so much fun designing outfits for Davina to wear on Big Brother. Friday nights are very exciting for us! Trinny was our very first customer which was such a huge compliment as she is such a fashion guru- it really helped us to feel validated as a fashionable brand. She also gave us a quote saying how much she loved our clothes while pregnant- what more could we ask for?!

Trinny Woodall was a great customer as I am a big fan of hers, Davina McCall as she is such a lovely person and looks great too and of course various celebrities in the USA. I loved it that our Strapless dress was worn to the Oscars by the LA bureau chief of Vanity Fair!

Any tips for looking fantastic when pregnant?

Keep it simple and chic. Wear good fitting maternity clothes with clean lines that are easy to dress up or down with the right accessories. Dark colours are always the most flattering. Also, look after yourself and play up those fabulous assets - the thick hair, great cleavage, glowing skin.

My main tip is to wear fitted clothes. During my first pregnancy I didn't know how important it was and when I look back at pictures I wish I had worn different clothes. As Vanessa says - show off your new assets, there is never a better time for cleavage!

What do you think are the essential capsule items for a stylish pregnancy?

2 dresses, 3-4 tops, 2 pairs of trousers and a skirt. I really like black best - it always looks chic, it's slimming and with the right piece of jewellery, or heels, you can transform an outfit so easily. Accessories play a huge role!

One or two dresses which you can dress up or down so gets lots of mileage out of, a pair of trousers, a skirt and 3 tops. I prefer dark colours as I find those more flattering.

How did you go about setting the company up?

We had an idea we really believed in, sketched out all of our designs and held focus groups with different types of women who we felt were our target customer when pregnant. We had them pick out their favourite pieces and talk through the things they like and dislike about maternity wear and had them talk about their buying experiences and needs. Using this feedback we edited the line to reflect the core pieces and the amount of styles we could afford to produce and at the same time give a story and then formed the business model and the essence of Isabella Oliver brand.

Once we had decided on our launch collection we went about sourcing suppliers, making collateral, designing the website. It was great fun but took many more hours than I had expected.

Where did the designs for your first collection come from? Are there specialist maternity wear designers?

We designed it all ourselves, we still do.

Vanessa designs them and we discuss them together and filter them down. It's the most fun bit about being in this business!

Was it a challenge getting all of the logistics of the initial collection together...how did you manage your time when you both had very young children?

It wasn't easy. In the early days we worked around nap times, bed times and had many meetings bouncing babies on our hips. In the beginning it was our main goal to keep the first collection very focused and we all had very specific projects - Me on design and dealing with the factories, Baukjen on the website and the marketing and Geoff on the logistics and the financial stuff. And then of course there were things we worked on together like the photo shoots and the brochure. It also helped tremendously to be very organised - and organisation is Baukjen's middle name!

When it became too busy I had an au pair to help out.

In the early days did you do all the work yourself?

Absolutely. Everything from answering the phones to picking and packing the orders to doing the post.

We did have lots of help from experts in their fields but it was Vanessa, myself and Geoff (my husband and the third business partner) who were responsible for it all at the end of the day.

Lots of Mums are interested in setting up fashion-related companies - either online or in the High Street - but don't know where to start - what research do you think is essential?

I think it starts with knowing who your customer is and next is learning about the competition. We find focus groups so important in keeping us in check with our customer. I think it is also so important to stay focused on your main idea.

The starting point is always the customer you have in mind. From him or her you can learn what they love, what they cant find etc etc.

When did you know it was time to recruit an employee and what position did you recruit for first?

When we were close to going live we hired our first employee as there was just so much to do on top of the answering of the phones. As we were so small no one had positions or titles - we needed someone who could everything. Not one day was the same (and not much has changed there).

We hired Laura who stayed with us just before we launched. As we were such a small team then everyone did a bit of everything. It was a fun time and Laura stayed with us for a couple of years.

How did you manage Accounts and Tax at the start? Did you do it yourself?

We did this ourselves - well, Geoff did all the accounting and taxes. We did most things ourselves wherever possible to keep overheads down.

How did you finance the initial company?

We had a loan from the DTI (department of Trade & Industry) and added in some of our own money.

What was your first piece of marketing activity?

Print ads in a couple of pregnancy magazines, we had a launch party at Soho House and we had friends spreading the word and brochures all over London, which, surprisingly, can be quite effective if you have proud, pushy friends!

The launch at Soho House which was also a thank you party for everyone who had helped us.

What is the best free bit of PR or Marketing the company has had?

1 tiny piece in the Telegraph on our Wrap Dress- it sold us out in a couple of hours. We took about 200 back orders and surprisingly, most people didn't mind waiting a few weeks for them to come in. The endorsement from Trinny was also great and really validated us as a fashionable brand.

What has been the biggest hurdle to you've had to overcome in terms of business success?

Financing our growth. I had never realised before how difficult it is to manage cash flow, but now I know.

Did you have a good support network around you when you set up Isabella Oliver - in terms of childcare?

You couldn't do it otherwise. My family is in the States so my nanny plays a huge part- she is fabulous and has been with us for 3 years. My husband is also a huge source of (emotional) support - would be impossible to do all this without that.

I am lucky to have my parents 20 minutes away who can always help out when things go a little crazy. Also we've had a Nanny for a few years who we've known for nearly a decade and she looks after our kids as her own.

How do you separate working time and family time?

We all have breakfast together very early and try my hardest to put the children to bed every night. Also, weekends are all about family time.

I'm not the right person to ask as my husband is also one of my business partners and we aren't so great at switching off! However we're 3 years down the line now and getting better at it. We just say "Let's not talk about work".

What has been the biggest benefit of you being self-employed to your family?

Sometimes it is hard to think of the benefits as it is a really tough juggling act and hard work but I at the end of the day it is really rewarding to see your idea be realised and to see people really liking it and even better - buying it.

I cant really think of a benefit to my family as I think having your own business is a burden on the whole family and friends circle and not just yourself. Maybe a benefit is that I'm happy.

What is the best bit of business advice you've been given?

Product is king - or is that "cash is king"?

You can run out of profit many times but only once out of cash.

Any advice for Mums thinking of starting in business?

We really feel that one of the keys to our success is our partnership. It is very hard to do it all in any case, but especially with a young family. If you are a creative, you are usually not very good with the financial and business-ey stuff, even if you are capable it is impossible to do it all well and stay focused at the same time. I would say, ABSOLUTELY find a business partner with a complimentary skill set and try to out source expert help in the fields that you are not familiar with.

It's much more work than a 9-6 job, its difficult to switch off, it can be scary to always be the one (or one of the ones) to make every decision. However if there is a business opportunity that has been confirmed by your target customer and you can build a business plan that is profitable, and you have the energy and support, it can bring loads of business satisfaction.

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