News

Style where lingerie meets pregnancy

(20 June 2005)

Durham graduate Jules Fossett, has taken a big step towards fulfilling her business dream by winning the University’s “Blueprint” business planning competition.

Her infant company, Amoralia, aims to combine practicality with style by launching the world’s first range of luxury maternity lingerie. Elegant with comfort for the modern mum-to -be.

Jules, who graduated in Psychology from Hatfield College two years ago, got the idea while working at an ad agency for a lingerie client and chatting about the products to her two sisters who were both pregnant. She recalls “They said ‘What you are doing is fine, but there’s not much for expectant mothers.’ We all had a good laugh about it, but then the idea began to intrigue me.”

The idea has taken about 18 months to develop. Sample collections were shown to buyers at the Harrogate lingerie fair in February and orders were subsequently taken. The fashion media launch in London on 19th July. Her range of bra’s and knickers aim to offer women a continuing sense of style and luxury as their bodies develop the second half of their pregnancy. Not too expensive, says Jules, who is conscious that no one is likely to spend a fortune on clothes that will fit them for only a few months.

She entered the Durham Blueprint competition along with nearly 140 undergraduate and postgraduate students and alumni of the university, involved in 80 different business projects. The competition, now in its second year, aims to celebrate enterprise and provide the winners with support to turn their business idea into reality.

Blueprint is sponsored by County Durham Development Company and other companies and agencies interested in encouraging business growth. The first prize winner gets £2000 of investment, plus six months rent free in the incubator unit of the NetPark science and technology business project at Sedgefield plus free consultancy from financial and other business specialist

The runner up business proposal IQOL Design, from postgraduate students Mike Jolley and Tim Short, involve a discreet and compact product to help people from suffering from various degrees of incontinence. Both Amoralia and IQOL will represent Durham University at the Blueprint regional finals in October, against the winners of similar competitions in the Universities of Newcastle, Sunderland, Northumbria and Teesside.

The Durham contest was organised by Rachel Orange, Senior Programme Tutor in Small Enterprise Development, with the support of other colleagues at Durham Business School.

For more information or images please contact:

Jules Fossett
Tel/Fax 020 7357 7346
E-mail info@amoralia.com

or

Durham University Business School contact:

Rachel Orange
Tel 0191 334 5130
E-mail rachel.orange@durham.ac.uk