Having been a mother-to-be, Nida White knows how difficult it is for pregnant women to find good-fitting clothing with a little style. Now the mother of a 19-month-old, she's inviting them over to her new shop.

Amayi, her seven-month old boutique, is ideal for pregnant women who want to look smart, especially on the job.

"I could always find things I enjoyed wearing before I was pregnant," Nida says, "but when I was expecting, what was on the market didn't match my tastes. There were only a few choices, and most of them were 'sweet' - I'm not the kind of person to dress 'sweetly'."

So Nida, although she was able to occasionally shop overseas when her South African husband was on a business trip, mostly went hunting on the Internet.

Nida spotted the entrepreneurial opportunity among women in the same predicament and set out to give them something fun and stylish to wear.

"I wanted to create diversity in the market for pregnant-wear," she says. "It's niche market, but I believed I could start a successful business."

She leased space at Penny's Balcony, new shopping square on Soi Thonglor 16, and called her shop Amayi - it's an African tribal word meaning "mother".

"I chose to open a stand-alone boutique instead of something in a mall because my clothes aren't mass-produced. There are only five or six copies of each item."

With a background in public relations and marketing, Nida knew little about design, but she's done her homework via fashion magazines and the Web.

She's had a good response so far, both local and foreign women expressing their gratitude.

"Some come in every week and ask for new items," Nida says.

If you're anywhere from three months pregnant to full-term, there are clothes here in all sizes, including a wide selection of working outfits, casual wear and evening dress. The fabrics are all imported.

There are also embroidered slippers and accessories.

The prices range from Bt700 to Bt7,000, with blouses averaging Bt1,500 to Bt2,500.

Throughout the collection, comfort is a crucial design factor.

"Pregnancy isn't a comfortable time," Nida says. "Women get bigger and our hormones are going through changes - you're hot a lot of the time. So I select comfortable, light and sheer fabrics like cotton, silk, satin, chiffon and linen."

She points out that many expecting mums shy away from sleeveless tops, thinking their arms are too unattractive while they're pregnant.

But she says sleeveless is the way to go when you're having hot flushes. She suggests wearing a jacket or cardigan over a sleeveless top as you feel the need.

She also recommends bright, colourful clothing.

"We often give advice and encourage customers to wear the style that promotes their look best. When you're five to seven months pregnant, that's when you enjoy dressing the most."

Early in the pregnancy is no the time for tight clothing, she says, because that's when you suffer morning sickness. Late-term mums-to-be should be wearing trousers, not dresses, because they pee so often.

Amayi is open daily from 10.30am to 8pm. There are new items every week and the collection changes every three months. All this month there are Mother's Day discounts of 10 to 20 per cent.

Call (02) 714 8681 or visit www.amayi.co.th.

Tanaporn Tangcharoenmankong

The Nation