2019-08-01 Essence

(^) V
IE
W
S
Celebrity stylist and The Art of
Dressing Curves author Susan Moses
adds, “As a devoted advocate for
the plus-size fashion industry, it’s
wonderful to see tremendous growth
in regard to brands, both through
established and indie designers and
the pop-up collaborations. I can also
confirm that this time, because of
social media and a very large, vocal and
active plus community, these strides are
permanent, and the plus-size industry
will only continue to grow.”
In tracing the expansion of plus-
size fashion, it’s not surprising that
women of color have promoted
greater choice. A 2017 Nielson
Report found that African-Amer-
icans spend $1.3 trillion annually.
should no longer be a surprise or
headline news,” she says. “Inclusion
should be the norm, yet it’s very chal-
lenging to find fashion images of plus
models who are ethnically diverse.”
Even as you peruse the latest
mainstream plus-size news, from
brand campaigns to models, cover-
age of what happens in the plus-size
fashion space is usually one-note—
and this applies both to fashion
influencers and business profession-
als. “The plus industry still needs more
representation of women of color and
sizes above a 16,” Moses asserts. “As a
stylist whose niche has been dressing
curves for well over a decade, I would
like to see everyone do their home-
work when hiring for curve-centric
Pair that with the fact that Black
consumers have used social media
to create a voice that decision mak-
ers and marketers are noticing and
it might seem as if change will come
easily. But inclusion is still an issue
for curvy Black fashionistas. The
result: Many are branching out to
create their own brands.
Creating Our Own Lane
Although several of the plus-size
fashion industry’s change agents and
tastemakers are women of color, they
are not equally represented in media.
Moses was forced to confront this
lack of ethnic inclusivity when writing
her book. “We should be represented
in all facets of media; our presence
FASHION FORWARD
FR
OM
(^) L
EF
T:
GI
LB
ER
T (^) C
AR
RA
SQ
UI
LL
O;
(^) G
ET
TY
; (^) C
OU
RT
ES
Y
OF
(^) A
ND
RE
W
(^) T
HO
MA
S (^) C
LIF
TO
N.
(^) IL
LU
ST
RA
IO
NS
, (^) IN
NA
(^) S
IN
AN
O
GE
TT
Y.
ESSENCE.COM I 82 I SEPTEMBER 2019