Following the launch of Fashion Quarterly’s winter 2024 ‘Motherhood’ issue, we hosted our third (and arguably most requested) FQ Let’s Talk event. Attracting an engaged group of women and mothers, The Hotel Britomart’s The Libraries room was swiftly filled with cheerful chatter as drinks were poured and platters were passed through the crowd. There were Nature Baby brown bags filled with goodies from our event partners perched on the seats facing five high stools where the panel would soon gather to discuss motherhood in all of its forms.
For this particular panel, Fashion Quarterly’s editor in chief Sarah Murray interviewed beauty entrepreneur Jaimee Lupton (Monday Haircare, Châlon Paris et al), Lara Henderson (founder of Pure Mama), Zeenat Wilkinson (founder and creative director of Sauce) and Katherine Douglas (BraveFace). Promising an intimate evening of insightful conversation, each guest speaker shared their diverse experiences on the road to motherhood, illuminating the many ways in which motherhood both challenged, changed and enriched their lives. With many of them at the helm of their own businesses and therefore work schedules, designing each day as it comes seemed to be a common thread.
Lat’s Talk Motherhood: take home notes
Both Lupton and Henderson agreed that becoming mothers themselves has influenced their approach to leadership, fostering an environment for their team where they too can take moments to put their respective families first and prioritise that time to make each daycare pickup, dance recital, or sports practice. The panel, and even a few nods in the audience, confirmed that being a working mother makes you a highly efficient version of yourself because you’re guided by the next motherly duty.
Another key discussion point centred on mum guilt, with each panel member admitting the ways in which they’ve all felt shame or feelings of inadequacy as mothers. They could all agree that a little kindness to yourself goes a long way and that you never truly understand it until you become a mother. The upside of mum guilt, if there is one, is how it has made them more emphatic leaders, especially how they relate to their team members who are also mothers juggling their professional and parenting duties.
Being positioned in the beauty space dedicated to motherhood, Henderson revealed some harrowing stats, citing that the pregnancy skincare industry is worth north of 32 billion dollars, and the postpartum only 3 billion – stressing that the need to take care of ourselves, especially during that time of healing, is paramount and often overlooked.
Wilkinson took the conversation to a vulnerable space, sharing her ups and downs as a mother so far, emphasising how critical it is to keep talking, remain honest, and lean on your community to help you. She’s learned that finding a creative outlet has been a powerful tool to recharge her own creativity in her work and how she shows up as a parent.
Douglas made a case for being deliberate when choosing who you talk to, ensuring that you speak to people who have been or are going through similar experiences as you. She brought the audience up to speed on how BraveFace products are designed to support feelings of overwhelm, anxiety and improve sleep naturally, and how they’ve recently launched BraveFace Jnr, which is designed for younger ones aged 6 – 18 years.
While we’re barely scraping the surface on the breadth of topics and questions that were explored, we felt confident that everyone in the audience identified with one or more of our panellists’ personal reflections. We extend our gratitude to everyone who participated, raised their hand, and gave us their time. From the outset we have always maintained that our FQ Let’s Talk series is not just an event, but a testament to the strength that emerges when women come together to support and uplift each other.
Inside the goody bags…
Our generous partners from Bendon Lingerie, Châlon Paris, Monday Haircare, BraveFace Jnr, Pure Mama, Nature Baby, and Shiseido ensured our guests went home with plenty of goodies. From samples of their top performing products including Pure Mama Belly & Body Oil, Bendon Lingerie Maternity Nursing Pads, Nature Baby’s Casey Cuddle Bunny, BraveFace Jnr. Let’s Dream Drops and BraveFace HeadRest Night Drops, Châlon Paris hand wash, Monday Haircare Shampoo & Conditioner minis, Shiseido Essential Energy Hydrating Cream and Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate minis, and a Kokomo Store voucher.
Our editor in chief Sarah Murray spoke with Jaimee Lupton, Lara Henderson, Zeenat Wilkinson, and Katherine Douglas on the challenges and joys of motherhood.
Sauce founder Zeenat Wilkinson spoke candidly about how inspiring her children are, how important it is for your wellbeing to talk about your experiences (the good and the bad) and the power of a creative outlet.
Stunning preserved hydrangeas by Bunched added a warming, earthy aesthetic to the space.
Refreshing bubbles provided by our friends at Almighty and The Hotel Britomart.
Goody bags made possible by our generous partners Bendon Lingerie, Chalon Paris, Monday Haircare, BraveFace Jnr, Pure Mama, Nature Baby, Kokomo Store, and Shiseido awaited our guests.
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to our brilliant panel host, Sarah Murray, editor in chief of FQ, for steering the conversation, and to our wonderful guest speakers for their personal lens on motherhood: Jaimee Lupton from Châlon Paris/Monday Haircare, Lara Henderson from Pure Mama, Zeenat Wilkinson from Sauce, and Katherine Douglas from BraveFace.
And to our principal sponsors who made this event possible Bendon Lingerie, BraveFace, Châlon Paris, Pure Mama, The Hotel Britomart, and Shark – thank you.
