Covergalls launches new line of maternity workwear

Photo: Covergalls Inc.

Covergalls has launched a new line of maternity workwear. The apparel collection, made up of a Maternity Button-Up Work Shirt and Maternity Cargo Pants, aims at providing personal protective equipment (PPE) for pregnant women in the workforce

Alicia Woods, CEO and founder of Sudbury, Ont.-based Covergalls Inc., said she sees the launch as an important and long overdue step towards helping working women in Canadian industrial sectors be safe, comfortable and heard.

“I’m really excited for this new addition to our collection. So many women have had to create makeshift solutions due to lack of options and inaccessibility to proper PPE (myself being one),” said Woods. “Creating maternity workwear that companies and suppliers can provide to their employees? It’s a step in the right direction towards greater workplace equality.”

Passion project

The launch of the maternity workwear line has been a passion project that Woods and her team at Covergalls have been working on since a visit to Yamana’s Jacobina Mine in Brazil in December 2019. In the Spring of 2022, Covergalls began to work on the designs for the maternity workwear and engaged with pregnant workers to trial the apparel and get boots-on-the-ground feedback.

Since then Covergalls has worked together with CINTAS to make these pieces available for their clients.

“The partnership with these women has been wonderful, and an example of the amazing solutions that can be found when industry leaders and companies partner with individuals to try and make a difference in the workwear industry,” said Woods.

Proper fit

The Covergalls Maternity Button-Up Work Shirt is designed to fit the unique needs of pregnant women in the workforce. The design features a longer front to safely cover a growing belly and a tab hem with 2 snaps that allows the wearer to adjust the shirt waist as their body grows.

The Covergalls Maternity Cargo Pant is designed to provide full and flexible coverage for pregnant women in the workforce. Using a rib knit front panel and high waist design, the pants securely pull over a growing belly.

Made in Canada, both workwear pieces meet OHS safety standards and use 3M Scotchlite four-inch yellow/silver/yellow retro reflective tape to give workers high-visibility.

While the design for the collection includes important special features, they are also purposefully made to fit standard safety workwear guidelines and looks, said Woods.

“Our design choice to make these pieces was very intentional,” said Woods. “Women in the workforce do not want to be stereotyped or gendered. Rather, they want creative solutions to the current limitations of safety gear. We have to meet the needs of a diversity of body shapes and pregnant women happen to be one body type underrepresented — and that changes over time.”

Women’s History Month

The maternity workwear release comes at the start of an important month for women all around the world: Women’s History Month. Ill-fitting safety gear is dangerous for any worker. Historically, however, designs have not been considered to accommodate the heights and curves necessary for women who are pregnant and at work.

Woods hopes that by launching this collective she is able to reach women across industrial sectors who are having to create their own makeshift solutions to ill-fitting equipment.

“I’ve struggled with ill-fitting workwear. It’s horrible — not just for safety reasons but for also making you feel like you don’t belong in your field.”

“You don’t fit the “norm,”” says Woods. “My hope is that this new apparel opens up more discussions around what current and future corporations can do to step up and help improve diversity and belonging in the workforce, pregnant or not.”