Forever21 (Teen Store) launches maternity clothing

[Chris_]

Am I the only one disturbed by this?

Forever 21, a fashion retailer known for targeting primarily teens and young adults, recently launched Love 21 Maternity, providing reasonably priced clothing options for expectant mothers.

They are supposedly targeting the states with the highest teen pregnancies.

Currently, Love 21 Maternity is only available in select stores throughout Alaska, Arizona, California, south Texas, and Utah. Stores in Harlingen, Laredo, and El Paso will carry the line. Of course, the line can also be seen on the Forever 21 website.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/around-town/fashion/Forever-21-maternity-wear-98426289.html

Opinions?

[debk]

Am I the only one disturbed by this?

They are supposedly targeting the states with the highest teen pregnancies.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/around-town/fashion/Forever-21-maternity-wear-98426289.html

Opinions?

I think it's much ado about nothing.

I have never gone in the Forever 21 store, but my daughter, her friends, my best friend's daugher and her friends are all in their mid late 20's to early 30's and many of them buy their clothes there. 

The girls buy their clothes there because they like the clothes, they like the price, and they are skinny/tiny enough to look cute in the clothes.

My daughter just had her second child last October. Most of her friends are having their 2nd ones too. Runnin' Buddy's daughter just turned 28 and has not had children yet, but many of her friends are starting to.

Most stores that carry maternity clothes, they are right next to all the other clothes.

The difference is, Forever 21 is one of the first specialty stores to go after the expectant mother segment of buyers. Why not? No one else is and if they can sell cute clothes that are affordable then more power to them.

If selling maternity clothes is going to encourage or persuade a young girl to get pregnant...then that kid has a lot more issues that should be cause for concern, if she can be that easily influenced/manipulated.

[Chris_]

If selling maternity clothes is going to encourage or persuade a young girl to get pregnant...then that kid has a lot more issues that should be cause for concern, if she can be that easily influenced/manipulated.

The movie Juno glamorized pregnancy and probably did lead to some teen pregnancies.  Of course, I cannot prove any of that.  Just an educated guess. 

Forever21 is more aimed towards the teen girls instead of the women in their late 20s/early 30s.

I mean, I guess if you're already 16 and knocked up, you still want to look "hot" for school. 

[IassaFTots]

I have a bunch of friends, and coworkers in their 30's to 40 that buy clothes at Forevver 21.  I imagine, if they got pregnant they would probably appreciate the clothing there more so than A Pea in the Pod, or whatever else.


ETA:  I look at it as if Express had started a maternity line back in the day.  I mean, GAP has maternity as well.  I don't really see it as targeting teens.  However, there is a market there.  I can't fault them for making $ off of it. 

[debk]

The movie Juno glamorized pregnancy and probably did lead to some teen pregnancies.  Of course, I cannot prove any of that.  Just an educated guess.  

Forever21 is more aimed towards the teen girls instead of the women in their late 20s/early 30s.

I mean, I guess if you're already 16 and knocked up, you still want to look "hot" for school.  

I will be 58 at Christmas time.

I still look in the "juniors" department. I'm a heck of a lot smaller than a lot of those 16 year old girls and if I find something that I like and it looks good on me...I will get it.

I don't know where you got your maternity clothes...but when I was pregnant...they were incredibly expensive and cheaply made....and they all looked alike....plaids, ruffles and polka dots! It was horrible. There weren't "nice" consignment stores then, or Target or Walmart...at least where I lived when I was pregnant, nor were there any family members or friends who had clothes that I could borrow.

Over the years, the clothes have become more stylish...but still expensive. Styles are so much different, that a lot of regular clothes, can be worn as maternity...which is what my daughter did with both of her kids for at least 6 months of her pregnancies.

The more competition there is in stores that sell maternity clothes, the better things are for the consumer.

I don't know if "knocked up" 16 yr olds want to look "hot" when pregnant or not. When I was in school...the couple of girls that did get pregnant were kicked out of school. When my kids were in school, the last half of the 90's, girls were allowed to stay in school. I don't remember any of them looking "hot"....most looked pretty miserable.

I live in the South, in a county with less than 450,000 people. It's not a "cosmopolitan" area by any stretch of the imagination. And certainly not comparable to Las Vegas. Maybe because of where we each live, is why we have differing opinions. 

[soleil]

I don't know. Many women try to dress younger these days. And let's face it, maternity clothes can be UGLY. I may have looked around there while I was preggo just to see what they had. And I turned 30 in my 8th month of pregnancy.

However, I do think it is odd. But I do know that teens aren't the only ones shopping at that store.

[littlelamb]

I guess they are trying to appeal to a bigger market