“Only getting bigger”: How Mama Rentals is building a sustainable maternity dress hire business

The entrepreneur and environmentalist behind Australia’s first sustainable maternity dress hire business Mama Rentals has made it her mission to provide women across Australia with a chance to experience some of the most sought-after garments without the hefty price tag and environmental impact, with the Sydney-based founder revealing her plans for further expansion.

With just a few dresses in her closet that she hired out, Alice Huang established Mama Rentals, which is 100% waste free, in 2017 and in the early days juggled the business as a single mum while solo-parenting and sleep-deprived with a wakeful toddler.

Huang said the initial idea came to her about six years ago when she was searching for a dress for her own maternity photoshoot. Unable to justify the cost to her bank account or the environment, she decided to start her own dress hire business.

“I started with just a few dresses in my wardrobe, as a side hustle while still working at my digital marketing job. I now work full-time at Mama Rentals, I’ve built a dedicated studio for the business in my backyard, and hired two part-time staff,” Huang said.

“As a sole provider of my family, I’m pretty proud I was able to create something that can sustain myself and my family while being able to spend so much time with my daughter every day.”

Today, Mama Rentals has curated a collection of 400 bump-friendly dresses, and growing, from many Australian and international slow-fashion labels, with sizes ranging from 4 to 22. The gowns aren’t restricted to pregnant women across Australia, but are for women during all stages of life, for photoshoots, weddings, or special occasions and many are breastfeeding-friendly. 

Mama Rentals now makes five figures a month, with Huang’s bestselling dress costing her $1,500, to purchase all sizes in multiple numbers, and it has now made her around $40,000.

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Huang said Mama Rentals will be trialling reusable mailing satchels for smaller parcels to be even more sustainable. 

“Everything we do is about reducing our carbon footprint. Our custom-made garment bags that we use to pack our garments are 55% linen and 45% cotton and made to last. They are washed and reused for each rental. Our mailing satchels, packing tape and shipping labels are all compostable,” she said.

“I actually compost all returned satchels from customers at my home. We do all our washing, steaming, and drying on site with eco-friendly, fragrance-free washing powder and all facilities are run on solar power.”

“I am definitely looking to grow the business further, I am running out of space in my dedicated studio and will probably need to build another workshop in my garage. 

“I eventually probably will need to rent a warehouse. But personally, I never wanted to run a retail store.”

Huang said she also saw a gap in the market for women size 16 and over.

“I realised there is a real gap for ladies from size 16 up. So many of them tell me they can’t find anything that fits them during pregnancy, which is a real shame and I wanted to change that and empower women of all shapes and sizes,” she explains.

“I’m proud that Mama Rentals has the largest plus size (16-22) maternity range in Australia and it is only getting bigger. We have made so many plus size ladies, in their own words, feel more beautiful than they ever have in their entire life, during pregnancy.”