“Curvy is the new black” at this New York celebration of plus-size style.
According to the mainstream fashion industry, being a “fashionable” plus-size woman once meant hiding your curves under dark, loose-fitting clothes.
One look at the bright prints women wore at a luau party or the white, body-con dresses at the Curves at Sea cruise during Full Figured Fashion Week in New York this week proved those days are over. “This is our time,” says Denise Caldwell, a stylist and brand consultant. “Curvy is the new black.”
About 2,000 women are expected to attend the week of fashion shows, cocktail parties, small business seminars and panel discussions, which started on Sunday and runs through this weekend. Founder Gwen DeVoe, a former plus-size model and event planner, says 25 brands—including the main sponsor, Fruit of the Loom—and 12 independent designers are participating.
The plus-size market, typically defined as sizes 14 and up, is a bright spot in retail. Women’s clothing stores alone, stalwarts like Lane Bryant and Ashley Stewart, as well as specialty shops, brought in $9.5 billion in 2014, according to IBIS World. Add in mass retailers such as Target and H&M, and plus-size online stores such as Eloquii—the hot spots in the market—and sales reached $17.5 billion in 2014, according to NPD Group, up 5% over the previous year. And no wonder: More than half of American women are size 14 or above. In the past 30 years, the average bra size has increased from 34B to 34E, according to a study from Intimacy, a bra retailer.
DeVoe had the idea for the event in 2008 while watching a show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and realizing she could never buy what she was seeing on the runway. “Not because I didn’t have the money, but because they would never make it in my size, ever,” says DeVoe, who is a size 18. She put together a weekend event in 2009, calling on her network to help, and used her savings to fund it. The event expanded to a week last year.
DeVoe says retailers are listening because these women are buying—and speaking out. “Social media and the Internet have been great for us,” says Devoe. “The plus-size consumer has become so vocal about what she wants.” Even the language is evolving, with some women and brands favoring “curvy” over “plus-sized.”
