Essence USA – August 2019

projects. While there is always room
for growth, there are some great
resources currently available.”
Of course, if plus-size women were
to wait around for mainstream fashion
to give us what we want, we would
not be having this conversation today.
Eleven years ago, Full Figured Fashion
Week (FFFW) arrived in New York
City. Created as a platform to celebrate
and nurture the plus community and
its fashion designers, FFFW paved the
way for new brands, collections and
influencers. FFFW also offered an inno-
vative event blueprint that inspired oth-
ers, including TCFStyle Expo, District of
Curves, Lifestyled Honors, The Curvy
Con and the newest addition, the Full
Figured Industry Awards.
Veteran plus-size content creators
and bloggers leveraged their social
media platforms to build their own
empires. Chante Burkett of the blog
Everything Curvy and Chic now
owns One Curvy Boutique, her own
brick-and-mortar plus-size shop in
Ocala, Florida. Personal style blogger
Kelly Augustine has launched her
own online store, August Raye.
Designer Elann Zelie started off as a
blogger but now runs the L.A.-based
bohemian luxe plus-size brand Zelie
For She. Plus-size model turned
business owner Grisel Paula launched
Rebdolls, with sizes up through a 5x.
Influencer Francie Maupin has the
Diva Kurves Collection and produces
an annual pool party.
As Allison Mcgevena, a televi-
sion personality and former plus-size
model, observes: “The general fashion
industry still has a great deal of catch-
ing up to do when it comes to putting
out trendy, size-inclusive collections,
but if plus-size women have proven
anything, it is that we are not willing
to settle.”

Indie Plus-Size Designers Are
Taking the Lead
Perhaps the most interesting recent
development is the role of indie plus-

BY THE

NUMBERS

16 to 18

IS THE SIZE

OF THE

AVERAGE

AMERICAN WOMAN

$24

billion

IS SPENT ON

PLUS-SIZE

FASHIONS

ANNUALLY

168.5

pounds

IS THE WEIGHT

OF THE AVERAGE

AMERICAN

WOMAN

size designers, who don’t hesitate to

innovate and push their collections to

the edge.

While fast fashion brands and

stores like Zara and H&M have

given us a range of options, what

is often missing from plus-size

collections are the high-fashion

and statement pieces—and this

is where the indie designers have

stepped in to fill the void.

“The industry once lacked in

offering collections with better

fabrications and couture details

presented with high-level creative

direction and sophistication,”

explains Moses. But this is no lon-

ger the case, especially in today’s

fashion climate, which has allowed

more of us to take the leap into

entrepreneurship. Some of the most

creative work is being done in the

contemporary space, as plus-

size fashion becomes as diverse

and segmented as mainstream

fashion lines.

Ultimately, the plus-size fashion

industry really is about options and

access. As the newer brands and

traditional ones like Ashley Stewart

and Lane Bryant engage with the

plus-size consumer, technology and

social media are constantly making

room for more innovators to enter

the arena. So where does this leave

us? As with any evolution, one must

adapt or get left behind. Fashion

executives are finally noticing that

the plus-size community deserves

more than what has tradition-

ally been offered. In a $21 billion

market where sales potential has

not been fully actualized, the ball

is in the retailers’ court. Yet even

now, with brand launches and new

collaborations, traditional retail-

ers and brands have yet to fully

understand the needs and desires

of the plus-size community. And so

entrepreneurs will continue to cre-

ate their own plus-size resources,

tapping into the huge potential

market through their indie clothing

lines, magazines, blogs, events and

boutiques. As Mariah Chase, CEO

of Eloquii, sums up: “While there’s

been exciting growth over the past

few years, we see the current size-

14-plus industry continuing to grow

based on the fact that the custom-

er’s options, both online and offline,

are still significantly underserved.

When you unpack population and

demographic statistics and com-

pare those with the current mar-

ket size in dollars, we’ve still got a

significant gap to close.”

Marie Denee, creator of the digital

platform the Curvy Fashionista, is a

respected voice in the plus-size

fashion arena.

ESSENCE.COM I 83 I SEPTEMBER 2019