Leo Workwear are the high visibility clothing experts renowned for providing inclusive and progressive garments. As the number of women in job roles that require high visibility clothing has grown, so too has Leo Workwear’s women’s range of clothing; from their first jacket 8 years ago to a range of 22 styles today, providing all-body protection for any season. Of these styles, 3 were specifically designed to keep pregnant women visible and comfortable onsite. The two polo shirts and the over-the-bump cargo trouser have proven extremely popular since their introduction in early 2019.
But it’s their very first product, the Rosemoor Jacket, created back in 2014, which sees the introduction of a new and innovative accessory.
Leo’s new maternity expander is an elasticated panel, which is zipped into the jacket, allowing for a bump during pregnancy, meaning that there is now a solution for pregnant women to stay dry and safe on site.
High visibility jackets for pregnant women are hard to source and are expensive, considering that, once purchased, they serve the wearer for a limited time. Leo set out to solve this issue in a cost-effective and sustainable way.
Should the wearer already own the Rosemoor Jacket, they only have the expense of purchasing the expander for the duration of their maternity period and then can return to the original jacket when ready.
Should they not already own the jacket, they can effectively buy a maternity jacket by purchasing the Rosemoor and the expander together, the expander can then be removed post-maternity. This leaves them with a high-performance, fully functioning, and conforming jacket to continue wearing, rather than a maternity jacket to shelve or throw away.
By manufacturing the expander with the same waterproof, windproof and breathable fabric as the jacket, Leo have ensured that the wearer remains dry and warm, whilst the continuation of reflective tape around the body and the fluorescent properties used means that the jacket continues to conform to high visibility standard ISO 20471 when worn with the expander.
Mimi Wicks, Design Executive at Leo, was key to the research and development of the accessory, she states:
“Just because a woman is pregnant doesn’t mean she should be restricted from certain job roles due to a lack of appropriate PPE. Where we’d kept her comfortable and visible with products that go against the skin with our original maternity products, we needed a product that would keep her dry during the winter months. We already had a very popular women’s jacket in the Rosemoor; it’s made from high-quality components and a performance laminated waterproof fabric, and we wanted to be able to provide that same level of performance for pregnant women. The maternity expander achieves this by using all the same components as the Rosemoor but in a way that isn’t cost-prohibitive and cuts out wastage.”
Leo Workwear continue to lead the market in providing sustainable high visibility clothing and this product is no exception; ensuring that one jacket serves the wearer pre-maternity, during maternity and post-maternity, with the addition of one small zip-in fabric panel, reduces unnecessary waste.
Leo Workwear’s range has been tailored to enable people to do their job where they would otherwise be hampered by a lack of appropriate PPE, whether that be through the vast size ranges available across their range or through products such as the modesty tunic and this ever-growing maternity range.
