New Businesses: Dress Your Best, Even When Expecting

About nine weeks ago, Woodmere residents Lucy Rosenthal and Margo Seewald birthed their first business, 9 New York in Cedarhurst, with the goal of selling fashionable clothes from international designers —  that just happen to fit during pregnancy.

“Our mission statement is to celebrate [women’s] pregnancies but retain their sense of style and self,” said Rosenthal, who has a decade worth of experience in fashion and retail. “You really can find anything here, you don’t have to be pregnant to shop here. But if you are pregnant, then there’s really fabulous options. You don’t have to feel like you’re being left out of fashionable society for nine months.”

9 New York’s interior is bright and sleek, with colorful clothes lining the racks, similar to the boutiques found in New York City. The inspiration for the store, at 422 Central Ave., which took nine months to plan, was conceived from Rosenthal and Seewald’s perception of maternity clothes.

“The maternity clothes industry is so depressing. The thought of walking into a maternity store normally fills someone with dread,” said Rosenthal, who hails from London. “We thought to ourselves there have to be better options out there.”

The women curate collections from all over the world, and even bring a strap-on belly to fashion shows to make sure clothes can stretch to accommodate growing tummies. Many brands featured at 9 are those worn by celebrities, such as Ted Rossi and Susan Hanover Designs — with the latter recently donned by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Rosenthal and Seewald’s goal is for 9 New York to be a destination store in Cedarhurst and help bring back Central Avenue’s appeal from years ago.

“There is nothing like this in the Five Towns,” Seewald said.

And according to the owners, the customers’ reactions support their goal.

“What has surprised us is that 50 percent of the customers aren’t even pregnant. They just love the clothes. They love how they felt,” Rosenthal said. “Nowadays, most of the maternity collections are more fitted and sexy, they just allow room for the tummy to grow.”