The Moolk Story
It all started in 2014...
In 2014 I had my first baby, and I still remember getting out of the shower, standing in front of my wardrobe and having no idea what to put on. It wasn't the usual "nothing-to-wear" feeling either, it was a harsh realisation that there was genuinely nothing I could feed my baby in and still feel like myself walking out the door.
I realised I'd put all my time and energy into preparing for the birth, and I'd just assumed that the breastfeeding part would come naturally. It never once crossed my mind that my wardrobe would be the thing that made it hard.
I lived in nursing singlets...
And every time I left the house in one I felt like I was walking around in my underwear instead of in actual clothes.
So I started saying no to things...
Not to the big things, but to the coffees and the lunches and the catch-ups with the friends who didn't have babies yet, because I knew exactly how I'd look standing next to them and I couldn't face it. The comparison was relentless, and when you're already vulnerable and deep in the trenches of motherhood, that voice gets very loud and all-consuming.
What I was really avoiding was being seen as someone I didn't recognise.
The turning point...
I'd spent half a year getting dressed to tick one box, and somewhere in there I'd lost my style, my confidence and a fair bit of my sense of self. I'd almost forgotten there I a woman underneath all of it.
So I built the thing I couldn't find
Everything I'd been able to find in 2014 came in black or grey or baby pink, was cut for pregnancy and postpartum at the same time even though I didn't have a bump anymore, and fit terribly. I'd surrendered to the fact that sacrificing my style in order to feed my baby was just the deal, and that every woman before me had quietly made the same one.
The foundations of Moolk came from one thought that wouldn't leave me alone: if this was a problem for me then it had to be a problem for other women too.
And I was determined to never let another women feel how I felt during their most vulnerable season.
And so Moolk was born with one simple mission: make getting dressed the easiest part of every mums day.
Feeding is one season and your wardrobe should outlast it, which is why Moolk is feeding-friendly and not specific.
The best thing I've built isn't the clothes
It's the thousands of women who found each other in a Facebook group with my brand's name on it and turned it into a tje most beautifully uplifting, supportive space. Togehter. As a community.
I have no doubt that if I'd had clothes I felt like myself in back then, those first few years would have looked completely different, in the best possible way.
That's why Moolk exists, and why I'm still making clothes for the woman standing in front of her wardrobe, wondering where and when she lost herself on the chaos of it all.
Come and find us.
Lauren Siliato
With a background in marketing and graphic design, Lauren took a “make it up as you go along” approach, determined to create a community where mums could build a wardrobe of feeding friendly clothes they actually wanted to wear, all in one place.
A mum of two who breastfeed over 4 years, Lauren has expanded her list of credentials to include everything from Accidental Fashion Designer to Successful Small Business Owner, and is channelling her years of breastfeeding experience into helping other new mums find their style.
