You own the most desirable brand of pushchair and transport the kids around in one of those fearsomely expensive, wacky-coloured children's trailers — all of which makes you the epitome of yummy-mummy cool, right? Wrong!

No, if you want to turn heads this summer, do like Laura Bailey and get yourself a Taga — the hippest way since power-pramming to shed your pregnancy weight and look good.

This fiendishly clever tricycle, which converts from bike to buggy in a trice, is already a firm celebrity favourite, with Laura and Geri Halliwell both devotees. And, as we all know, where celeb mums lead, yummies will follow.

The Taga has just arrived from Holland and is fast establishing itself as this season's must-have accessory. Use it to take the kids — from babies to young children — shopping, to the park, on the Tube or simply to spread a little envy at the school gate.

You'll save a fortune on petrol, parking and the congestion charge and be able to feel good about the environment and your waistline into the bargain.

There are a variety of different carrying options, from an infant car seat to a funky wooden carriage that will accommodate two toddlers — it even has a brightly coloured basket attachment large enough to hold your fruit, veg and loo rolls.

The Taga was invented a few years ago by the father of Taga's Dutch CEO, Hagai Barak, for his grandchildren. “I remember Dad, who was an industrial designer, taking my daughter out on the first Taga prototype,” says Hagai. “I was a bit doubtful at first until I took her out on it myself. I was overwhelmed by the number of people who asked me about it. That was a pivotal point — I knew we were on to something really exciting.”

With the help of his brother, Hagai decided to try and turn their father's dream into a commercial venture and Taga was launched in Amsterdam in April this year.

Hagai is hoping to replicate its success there in London. So far it is available in only a handful of stores and children's shops, and at a cool £1,695 is pretty pricey. But, as Hagai points out, buying a top-of-the-range pushchair as well as a bike and child seat isn't cheap either.
If you're lucky enough to join the elite circle of Taga owners any time soon, the only problem you'll encounter is actually getting anywhere.

As a round-the-world cyclist, I'm pretty accustomed to turning heads on a bike — slathered in 120 miles worth of monsoon rain and road dirt I once silenced the lobby of Singapore's five-star Ritz Carlton Hotel — but none of my 12,000 miles could have prepared me for freewheeling through Shad Thames on a Taga with my two-year-old daughter, Dory.

We could not have attracted more stares or caused more of a commotion had we been cartwheeling naked. A two-mile, 10-minute jaunt morphed into an attention-grabbing afternoon.

Put simply, we were mobbed. Young mums demanded an on-the-spot demo. Japanese tourists insisted on taking pictures. Improbably, teenage boys gawped and pronounced it “cool”.

Dory soon became so blasé at her burgeoning rock star status that she quickly learned five new words: “Taga”, “seventeen hundred pounds” and “Dutch”.

I have yet to see a more unlikely ice-breaker — even the well-heeled yuppies who stalk Borough Market eschewed their usual aloofness to sprint across and jot down the website address.

One City gent, spotting us gliding past, simply held up a hand, and ran across four lanes of traffic just to stand in front of us as if he'd glimpsed the second coming.

I got used to being asked — always the first question — “How much?”. “It's not mine,” I told one mum who shot out of her semi as though her hair was on fire. “I'm only borrowing it.”

“Seventeen hundred quid?” she parroted back. “I've got a mate who spent close to that on a Bugaboo.”

And she has a point. The simple truth is that if you're a parent, you're going to want one. Desperately.