‘What surprised me most about becoming a mother was the identity crisis that I experienced,’ says reality star Lucy Watson, who gave birth to her first son in February last year. ‘Finding a balance was incredibly difficult - and I have more tools than most to do so.’
But it was out of that difficult time that Lucy Watson created her new underwear range for loungewear brand RENUE, which she founded in 2020. After realising that sustainability and style were neglected in favour of function when it came to most maternity and postnatal essentials, the 33 year old decided to create her own.
Lucy explains, ‘I was feeling down through the act of trying to find things that I liked that were maternity wear. I didn't want to compromise on my taste and buy ugly things that made me feel even worse about how I was feeling in this new body. It was all feeding into this massive identity crisis.
‘When you’re breastfeeding, nursing bras are the number one thing that you wear - they just become like a second skin. I wanted to create a product that was not only functional, but also soft. One of the things I found during and after pregnancy was that my skin became a lot more sensitive so we used the softest material that we could find that would give us the stretch that we needed because one minute your boobs are one size and two hours later they’re two sizes bigger!’
She continues, ‘Also you're hot all the time so the material that we've used has a cooling property and is anti-microbial as well. We've created something super comfortable and functional but also aesthetically pleasing. Nursing bras that you would be proud to post a photo in or look at yourself in the mirror and feel like you.’
Following fertility struggles which she tells Grazia had her feeling like becoming a mother may never happen for her, in 2024 Lucy and her husband of three years James Dunmore – who she met on Made in Chelsea – welcomed son Willoughby.
Since then, the Beyond Chelsea star has started to experience the judgement that surrounds motherhood. A few months ago, Lucy received backlash for sharing that her then eight-week-old son had seemingly turned a corner and detailed her idea of a good day (a facial and an oat-milk matcha) and more recently she admits that she’s been on the receiving end of some negativity regarding the fact that she still breastfeeds Willoughby, now eight months old.
She tells Grazia, ‘I've been on this incredibly long breastfeeding journey that feels never ending, but I'm committed to it. It's been a journey, to say the least, but it was something that I always wanted to do. I do think there is still stigma around it. I feel judged at times by people - whether it be in the workplace or friends - who say “Oh, my God, are you still doing that? Come on, just give it up already!”
‘It's a shame because I think that any woman who breastfeeds should receive a pat on the back because it is an incredibly hard thing and it is a huge sacrifice. There are so many different ways to parent and I have a real issue with people who feel the need to judge mothers. It's my choice to breastfeed Willoughby, so if people have a problem with it then that's on them! I feel very fortunate to be able to do it because I know a lot of women can't.’
Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia