Elena Bridgers launched Hera California to address the many stages of pregnancy and post-partum life.
Hera California founder, Elena Bridgers
Elena Bridgers believes mothers deal with far too many wardrobe challenges. These include “finding clothing that fits through pregnancy, building a postpartum nursing-friendly wardrobe and adjusting to life as a mother—which often means adjusting to a whole new body and a lifestyle that no longer accommodates the dry-clean-only pieces you used to wear to the office,” she says. So, the Bay Area entrepreneur, who credits her eight years in Paris as her style inspiration, launched Hera California (heracalifornia.com). The brand’s e-commerce store went live in April, revealing looks that marry a European aesthetic to a Californian desire for comfort and functionality.
Top and pant from Hera California’s just-released Indigo collection
“There is an erroneous assumption that mothers don’t care about fashion,” says Bridgers. “Many of my customers have said that adding chic and easy staples to their wardrobe—pieces that fit their body well in its current state—has made them feel much better about themselves.”
The Gaia dress
Bridgers says she built a 100% domestic supply chain to promote transparency and support local businesses. “I know which farms my cotton comes from. It was organically and sustainably grown by farmers in Texas and was harvested using machines and sold at a fair market price,” says Bridgers, whose pieces are spun and milled in North Carolina by a family business, dyed in Pennsylvania using botanical dyes, and then cut and sewn in Los Angeles by people she knows by name.
The Maia shirt and Diana pant
“When you buy from Hera, you get the satisfaction of knowing that your money is going into the hands of hardworking, deserving people who share your values and want what’s right for their employees and the planet,” says Bridgers.
Photography by: COURTESY OF HERA CALIFORNIA;
