Tag Archives: Australian Plus Size Designers

Melbourne Bridal designers on the look-out for plus-sized models for their designs…

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Three years ago I started Curvy Revolution, a Melbourne based agency representing women size 16+ of Australia. This idea was borne from mine and others frustration that plus-size clothing was being represented only on size 14 models, making it difficult & frustrating for those of us size 16+ to identify with!

I seize every opportunity I get to push the boundaries with plus-size garment manufacturers, designers and retailers as well as all forms of media to realistically and identifiably represent curvy clothing on different size models. Some will argue that size 14 models are true representation, but I disagree. I maintain that a more realistic and successful way to market plus-size garments is to market them on the figures they were designed for!

There’s absolutely no way a woman who is a size 10 is going to identify with or buy a garment represented on a size 20 woman, so why should our industry assume that the same is not true for plus-size women

I’d also like to clarify that when I state plus-size, I include women that are size 16+.  The fashion industry (think catwalks in Paris and Milan, and women’s fashion magazines) rarely if ever acknowledge fashion over a size 14, in fact often fashions go only to a size 12.

Mainstream sizes are traditionally 8-16 (or even 6-14).  It’s rare that a brand will go over a 16, and it is almost never that you will see a brand who manufactures for sizes 8-16 representing their garments on a size 16 figure, you will always see them represented on a size 8-10.

I’m a size 20. I love to shop. I love to buy clothes. I have money to spend. I want  fashion marketed to me in a way that makes me want to spend money – and acknowledges that I am plus-size, it’s ok for me to be plus-size and that the people who are designing, manufacturing or retailing garments for my body understand what I want and need.

This week I received some encouraging news, the designers, from Leah S. Design Studios in Melbourne’s southeast, are having an open casting to find the next ‘face’ of their Plus Size Perfection collection.

I was lucky enough to meet Leah & Lyn a few years ago when I was doing a shoot for a plus-size bridal piece. You can see one of their beautiful Plus Size Perfection gowns on the left in the image below – gorgeous!

“We think all women regardless of size are fabulous and beautiful. Our Plus Size Perfection campaign is not only about challenging the stereotypes of what is takes to be a model, but also what is beautiful,” says Lyn.

“We want to support our local community by giving up-and-coming models, or girls who are hoping to break into plus-sized modelling, their big break,” she says.

The designers are searching for a local beauty, size 18-30, to help bring their 2013 collection “to life”.

“Our designs are created with real women in mind, says Lyn. “We don’t believe that only women who conform to the skinny ideal should look beautiful on their wedding day. So our collection includes styles that suit women of all sizes.

“The designs for our up-coming collection are very feminine and romantic, created with exquisite fabrics and laces which have been delicately beaded to achieve a glamorous look.”

As well as becoming the face of the collection, the successful applicant will receive a $1000 Westfield voucher and photography to help launch their modelling portfolio.

“You don’t necessarily have to have any professional modelling experience to enter,” says Lyn.  We’re just looking for someone who encapsulates the spirit of our collection and who is interested in modelling.”

The casting will be held on Sunday October 28 between 11am and 3pm at The Leah S Design Studios, 3/167 Princes Highway in Hallam, Victoria.

CONGRATULATIONS Leah & Lyn, I can’t wait to see the results of your casting and new marketing campaign.

Love your shape!

Janine x 

One-Stop Plus Maternity Shop in the heart of Sydney…

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Many of you will remember in October 2010 I hosted a Girl’s Night Out for Real Women Australia to raise funds for Cancer. The room was packed with women and the gorgeous garments designed for women with curves were realistically & identifiably presented on seven of my beautiful Curvy Revolution models. The event was a huge success.

One of the participating retailers, was none other than Australian designer & manufacturer of plus-size maternity wear, Nadine Newell and her label Plus Maternity.

Curvy Revolution’s Kate was eight months pregnant at the time and looked stunning in Nadine’s designs.

Kate wearing Plus Maternity – October 2010

I often get enquiries about maternity wear and resources for plus-size women, and with Nadine’s launch of her label a couple of years ago, the options opened up.

Now here’s some more more great news for pregnant curvy women.

Two of Australia’s leading specialist boutiques, More Than A Handful and online store, Plus Maternity have joined forces to cater for the plus sized maternity market with a one-stop shopping destination in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.

Bringing together beautiful lingerie and swimwear options with on-trend clothing pieces, the new store will exclusively stock brands Bravado, Anita, Royce and Eveden as well as Plus Maternity’s wholly designed and manufactured in Australia range created by mum, Nadine Newell, who understands the needs of a plus sized mum.

Located at Level 2, 70 Druitt St, Sydney, the store also provides fashionable alternatives for the plus sized market exclusively stocking New Zealand designer Carolyn Barker’s wardrobe essentials of dresses, tunics, overtops, pants, skirts, tops jackets and vests.

The two stores come together from a long-time relationship – Plus Maternity’s Nadine Newell was a client of Margaret McLachlan’s More Than A Handful.  Both passionate about offering their fuller figured customers quality clothing options the merging of stores was a natural transition.  Margaret McLachlan also has a passion for promoting Australian and New Zealand made products where possible – an increasingly difficult task in today’s manufacturing climate.

“We felt our clients could really benefit from having a one-stop destination for all their maternity wear shopping needs.  Both Nadine and I believe in supporting and providing options for all women who need our specialist service – not just up to size 22 which is what many retailers do because it is a profitable demographic”, said Margaret McLachlan.

I’m really enjoying meeting our customers face to face, said Nadine Newell, it’s been fantastic to respond to their requests to have a bricks and mortar store after having an online store for 2 years.  The shop is in a stunning inner city location, right behind the QVB, on all the transport hubs.   The feedback received from women has been nothing but positive, they love that can come in and shop for both their maternity wear and their nursing bra requirements in one location.  The trained fitters from More than a Handful are wonderful to work with everyday.

Margaret McLachlan established More Than A Handful in 2005 after sustaining a shoulder injury and not being able to find a front-opening bra in her size.  Formerly a registered nurse with a post-graduate degree in midwifery, Margaret McLachlan is a professional bra-fitter specifically catering to women with larger bust sizes.

With PCOS, and after many years of trying to conceive, eventually with the assistance of IVF, Nadine Newell couldn’t wait to go shopping for maternity wear.  Unable to find anything in plus sizes and disappointed by the lack of care shown by retail assistances in trying to help her, she turned to overseas options but again, was underwhelmed by the choices available to plus sized women.  In 2010, knowing she wasn’t alone in her struggle to find maternity and breastfeeding wear, she decided to develop Plus Maternity, offering a range of gorgeous maternity wear designed and made in Australia, using local fabrics where available, such as the fabulous cotton milled in Sydney and used in all Plus Maternity’s breastfeeding friendly sleepwear.  Remaining fashionable, each item is fully functional with important details for the plus sized market including longer line tops, pants with stretch and busts with a little more room.  In 2011, Nadine Newell was a finalist in the Bio-Oil Ausmumpreneur Awards.

More Than A Handful

More Than A Handful caters to women of all ages and sizes carrying every day, evening, bridal, maternity and sports underwear collections in the very latest colours and fabrics.  This specialist intimate apparel boutique also provides practical and suitable choices for women who have undergone shoulder surgery or suffer disabling medical conditions which limit their flexibility and movement.  To provide maximum comfort and support, More Than A Handful also offers a tailored alteration service when required to ensure your bra is best suited to your shape, height and special needs.

www.morethanahandful.com.au

Plus Maternity

Plus Maternity is a clothing range for women, size 18 to 28. The range is inclusive of the key wardrobe essentials, corporate pieces, jeans, comfy casual wear, chlorine resistant swimwear, breastfeeding accessible sleepwear and a selection of breastfeeding tops.  Plus Maternity also has a thriving online community via Facebook, which aims to provide as much plus size mum friendly information as possible and at times Q&A forum.  Nadine spends a lot of time sifting though research and working with health care professionals to raise awareness of the issues faced by plus sized mum – a big part of this is ensuing we are in regular contact with the pregnancy and health media to ensure that issues of relevance to plus size mums are featured in fashion spreads, information pieces and readers stories.

www.plusmaternity.com.au

Here’s your invitation to attend the grand opening, if you’re not local to Sydney, don’t forget to shop online. Without your support, local Australian designers and businesses won’t survive. These ladies are passionate and working hard for YOU.

Tell Nadine & Margaret I sent you…

Love your shape!

Janine x 

Celebrating an invaluable contribution to curvy fashion in Australia…

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Tomorrow an iconic Melbourne plus-size designer is closing her doors.

Over four years ago when I began Real Women Australia, I travelled to Glenferrie Road Malvern to meet with two other retailers catering to curvy women. I randomly parked my car in front of Cheryl’s store and realised that the mannequin in the window was curvy!

I took the plunge, opened the door and was greeted with a warm smile and gorgeous boutique housing some amazing creations. The store was Chez Statements.

That chance meeting was the beginning of my passion for plus-size designers.

Cheryl Canute began her career in the fashion industry 42 years ago, she just recently turned 60.

At the beginning of her career she worked her way up to opening her own retail fashion store catering to women of all shapes and sizes and focussed on buying in labels.  She tells many an amusing story of the “rag trade”, buying from wholesalers in Flinders Street, then the hub of the fashion world.

The customer base soon grew and it soon became apparent that catering to the many different shapes and sizes of women’s bodies was not an easy task.

Being a keen sewer and having an “eye” for design, coupled with her desire to meet her customers’ needs, Cheryl began applying her passion for design and introduced her customers to made-to-order designs of her own. What began as an on-the-side service grew so rapidly that the label Chez Statements was born and Cheryl moved into her existing boutique in fashionable Glenferrie Road, Malvern.

Offering sizes 12-26, she focused on assisting women find their own individual style.  By combining Nineteen Twenties, Asian & Middle Eastern influences in her designs the garments have interesting, humorous and subtle detail quite unique to this brand, and offered in casual to formal styles with everything in between. The fabrics were handpicked, always of the uppermost quality and natural fibres, and the sizings always tailored to flatter and accentuate real bodies.

This recipe for the Chez Statements label resulted in the most successful business Cheryl has owned.

Over the past four years Chez Statements has always been on my itinerary of destination stores for curvy women. I’ve visited with one-on-one personal shop customers, group shopping tours and hosted a VIP shopping evening with Cheryl. I’ve always been delighted at my customer’s reaction when they view the label. We have  thoroughly enjoyed our experience with Cheryl’s label and were thrilled to find this gem.

Chez Statements is arguably not a well-known label. It’s fair to say that marketing was not a focus of Cheryl’s she had no need to promote her label, the customers word of mouth referral and stylists like myself who were lucky enough to find her, were loyal from the start and spread the word – the best form of marketing in my opinion. She is very humble and works always with her customer in mind and as the focus of attention.

I was sad to hear that Cheryl was closing her doors – but there is good news:

  • Cheryl is able to close her doors at the highpoint of her career – not many who can say that! She literally feels it’s time to retire and take some “me” time
  • The Chez Statement label will not be disappearing!

That’s right, although the bricks & mortar store is closing down, Cheryl is already planning her new range! The website will remain and be updated (my guess is that people like me have badgered her so much that she had to!) and she plans to release a small range of one-off handmade individual pieces a couple of times a year. Music to my ears!

Cheryl’s heading off on some trips over the next few months, so keep an eye on this space for news of the exclusive range when it’s released.

In the meantime, you’ve one day left to snap up a bargain at her closing down sale – all unique exclusive designs:

 

 

 

 

 

FINAL SALE DAY: TOMORROW 31st August, 2012

Chez Statements – 69 Glenferrie Road, Malvern Vic 3144. – 10:00am-5:30pm

Cheryl, from me to you, and on behalf of the curvy women whose lives you’ve impacted so positively, I thank you. Congratulations on your invaluable contribution.

BRAVO.

Love your shape!

Janine x