I think we can officially say that autumn is here. I’m pretty sure it is because I’ve got soaked on the school run every day for the last week. And as all our team are mums we’ve been sharing insight about what trends we’ve spotted in the playground. We also asked our MumPanel what they wear for the school run and whether style or practicality wins.

Lynne, our MD, was the first to spot that Hunter Wellies have made the transition from festival favourite to playground staple (check out this fab purple pair from Out of the City). Some of our mums told us that while their school run outfit needs to be practical they also don’t want to leave all sense of style behind.

But because MumPanel mums are so diverse we knew fashion wouldn’t be the whole story. Many of our mums our budget conscious, with them telling us fashion doesn’t come into the school run and they wouldn’t fork out for an expensive pair of wellies for themselves as they need to kit out their kids.  They also want value (and that doesn’t always mean the cheapest option ) – it’s worth remembering that mums will pay more for something if they know it will last.

What did become apparent from talking to our mums is that they want things that make their life easier – whether that’s wellies that fit around our less than slimline calves or boots that easily pull on so you don’t have to wrestle with shoes and kids. This is where opinion pods (our focus groups) can prove helpful when you are developing new products – we listen to what mums are saying and the tiniest insight can unlock a potentially life changing product.