Not every business idea starts with a plan to build a company.
For Florence Tay, the story of Lovemère started much closer to home. It started with motherhood.
Florence is a mother of three, and like many mothers, her experience of pregnancy and the days after giving birth came with its own mix of happy moments, uncertainty and challenges. Looking back, she describes those early experiences as an emotional rollercoaster.
There were many things to think about as a new mother. Feeding the baby was one of them. So was finding clothes that felt comfortable and worked with a new routine.
A bra may not sound like an important part of that story. But when you are breastfeeding, it can become something you think about quite often.
That everyday experience eventually gave Florence the idea that became Lovemère.
When motherhood changes the way you look at everyday clothes
Before becoming a mother, most women probably do not spend much time thinking about what they need from their everyday clothes. A bra needs to fit well and feel comfortable, and that is usually enough. Pregnancy can change that quite quickly.
Your body changes throughout pregnancy, and things can feel different again after the baby arrives. Once breastfeeding becomes part of your day, comfort and easy access start to matter much more. You may be feeding your baby several times a day, sitting for long periods or carrying your baby around the house. The last thing you want is to keep adjusting what you are wearing.
Florence experienced these changes herself. It made her look at maternity and nursing wear from a more practical point of view. Instead of thinking only about how something looked, she began thinking about how it would actually feel during a normal day with a baby.
A nursing bra, for example, can become an everyday essential. A mother may wear it for hours, so the fit matters. It should also make feeding easier rather than becoming another thing she has to struggle with.
These were the kinds of details that led Florence to think there was room for something better.
The small frustrations can stay with you
Motherhood brings plenty of big changes, but some of the most noticeable ones are quite ordinary.
A top that is difficult to open during a feed. A bra that feels fine in the morning but becomes uncomfortable later. Clothes that looked perfect before pregnancy but no longer feel right after having a baby.
Each thing on its own may not seem like a big deal. When you are dealing with them every day, though, you start to notice.
Florence’s own experience made her pay attention to these details. She began thinking about maternity and nursing wear in terms of how mothers actually use it. A mother is not just wearing a bra. She may be feeding, pumping, carrying her baby, going out or trying to get some rest while wearing it.
That was an important part of the idea behind Lovemère.
The aim was not simply to create maternity clothing. It was to think about what would feel useful when a woman’s body and routine were both changing.
Breastfeeding does not look the same for every mother
There is no single way to experience breastfeeding. Some mothers breastfeed directly, some express milk and others do a combination of both. A routine can also change as the baby grows or when a mother returns to work.
Florence’s own experience was the starting point, but it was not the only experience that mattered.
As Lovemère developed, understanding different mothers and their routines became important too. Some women may prefer more support from their bra, while others may want something softer. One mother may care most about easy feeding access, while another may need something she can comfortably wear for most of the day.
These differences are necessary to listen to.
When mothers talk about what they need, the concerns are usually very practical. They may talk about fit, comfort, how something feels after several hours or whether they can feed without having to adjust everything. These everyday experiences can tell you a lot about what works and what does not.
That understanding has remained part of the Lovemère story.
When pumping becomes part of the routine
For some mothers, breastfeeding also means pumping. It can happen at home, at work or between other responsibilities, depending on what works for the mother and baby.
When pumping becomes a regular part of the day, having clothing that works with it can make things simpler.
A pumping bra is designed with this particular need in mind. Lovemère’s Skye Pump Bra is made for hands-free pumping and can also be worn as a wearable portable pumping bra. The idea is straightforward: a mother can pump without needing to spend the whole time holding the pump in place.
It may seem like a small convenience, but small conveniences matter when something is repeated every day.
This is also a good example of how Florence’s own experience influenced the direction of Lovemère. The focus was not just on creating a product for a category. It was about looking at something mothers were actually doing and asking whether their clothing could make that routine easier.
Building a business while raising a family
Florence was raising her family while working on the business, and that comes with its own challenges.
Running a company needs time and attention. Raising children does too, and family life does not always follow a schedule. She remembered there were a few times, her toddler was crying every single night (she latched to sleep), and night time was the only time she could work on the business. She felt lost at sometime and wondered “How can I ever do this?”.
There are days when plans change, things take longer than expected or something at home simply needs to come first.
For Florence, motherhood and entrepreneurship naturally became part of the same journey. The experiences she was having as a mother influenced the way she thought about the business, while building Lovemère gave her the chance to turn those experiences into something that could be useful to other women.
Her own experience gave the brand a very personal beginning, but it did not mean every mother’s experience would be the same. It is important for mums to take care of themselves, not only their baby. Hence, she named the brand Lovemère, where “mère” means “mother” in French.
From one mother’s experience to Lovemère
Lovemère started in Singapore in 2017, from a small warehouse. The idea was rooted in something Florence had experienced herself: the need for maternity and nursing wear that made more sense for everyday life.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding had shown her how much a woman’s needs can change. Getting dressed, finding a comfortable bra and making space for feeding or pumping were suddenly part of a completely different routine.
Instead of simply accepting those frustrations, Florence started thinking about what could be done differently.
That became Lovemère.
Since then, the brand has grown to offer maternity and nursing wear for different parts of the motherhood journey. But the reason behind it remains fairly simple. The clothes need to fit into a mother’s life, not make that life more difficult.
Motherhood became part of her entrepreneurial journey
Florence Tay’s story is not simply about a mother who later decided to become a business owner. Motherhood was actually what led her towards the idea in the first place.
Her own experience made her notice things that may otherwise have been easy to overlook. The discomfort of a changing body, the repeated feeding sessions, the need for practical nursing wear and the added routine of pumping are all ordinary parts of life for many mothers.
Individually, they may seem like small things. Together, they can shape how comfortable a mother feels throughout her day.
Florence had experienced those changes herself. She knew what she would have wanted as a mother, and that became the starting point for Lovemère.
As the brand grew, the story naturally became bigger than one woman. Other mothers brought their own experiences, preferences and needs into the conversation.
That is what makes Florence’s journey from motherhood to entrepreneurship so personal. Lovemère did not begin with a distant business idea. It began with something she was living herself.
A mother noticed a problem, wondered if there could be a better way and decided to do something about it. That simple thought became Lovemère.