Some brands are built in boardrooms. The Dairy Fairy was built in a nursing chair.
Emily Ironi founded The Dairy Fairy® in 2012 after the birth of her daughter — and a frustrating realization that new moms were being asked to choose between function and femininity. As a fashion and brand builder, she knew that wasn't a trade-off worth accepting.
A Problem Worth Solving
Like so many new mothers, Emily found herself cycling through postpartum garments that were highly functional but decidedly unglamorous. Hours spent nursing and pumping in bras that felt nothing like her sparked a question she couldn't let go: why should motherhood mean giving up feeling like yourself?
So she did something about it.
What began as a personal quest for a better pumping bra became The Dairy Fairy: a premium maternity intimates brand dedicated to helping moms feel feminine, confident, and comfortable while nursing and pumping. In doing so, Emily helped pioneer an entire category — one that proved motherhood and pretty things can absolutely coexist.
A Different Kind of Journey to Motherhood
Emily's path to becoming a mother wasn't a traditional one. Finding herself single in her late thirties, she chose to pursue motherhood independently through IVF and donor conception. That experience gave her a profound understanding of the many different roads women travel to become mothers — and it continues to shape the empathy and inclusivity woven into everything The Dairy Fairy creates.
Growing Alongside Her Daughter (and Her Brand)
Emily often jokes that she had two babies six months apart: her daughter Arden, and The Dairy Fairy. More than a decade later, both continue to keep her on her toes.
As a founder and a mother, Emily believes growth is a lifelong process. She often says that motherhood isn't simply about raising children — it's about growing alongside them. That philosophy is reflected in how The Dairy Fairy continues to evolve: always listening, always innovating, always centering the real experiences of real moms.
The Mission Continues
Through The Dairy Fairy, Emily continues designing thoughtful, innovative products that empower women to feel like themselves during one of life's most demanding seasons. Because motherhood may change everything — but it shouldn't require women to give up feeling beautiful, confident, and fully themselves.
Shop The Dairy Fairy at Milk & Baby
We're proud to carry The Dairy Fairy's full collection — a brand that shares our belief that moms deserve products as thoughtful and beautiful as they are.
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