Luxury fashion is not size inclusive. Universal Standard wants to fix that - Fast Company

Universal Standard, the groundbreaking fashion label that wants to make high-quality, well-designed clothes for women sized 00 to 40, is on a quest to make the entire fashion industry more inclusive. It just announced a collaboration with the luxury fashion label Rodarte to create four pieces available all the way to size 40.

It’s about time. As I reported in a story last year, the fashion industry has segregated women by size, with a smattering of brands specializing in plus-size apparel, while the vast majority of the rest create clothes for women size 14 and under. High-end brands in particular have generally catered to smaller, skinnier women. It’s an odd state of affairs given that the average woman in the United States is a size 16.

[Photo: courtesy of Rodarte x Universal Standard]

That’s why this particular collaboration stands out. Rodarte is an acclaimed fashion label founded in 2005 by sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy. While this collaboration only features four items–a blouse, skirt, jumpsuit, and dress–in four different colorways, it’s an important signal to the industry that Rodarte is eager to meet the needs of plus-size women. It’s often a complex operation to create clothes in such a wide range of sizes because it requires larger bolts of fabric and different sewing equipment. As Rodarte learns the ropes–with the help of Universal Standard–there’s hope that it will begin making more clothes in a wider range of sizes.

The new collection will be available at UniversalStandard.com and the Universal Standard pop-up in Soho. The items vary in price from $150 to $240.

advertisement

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.fastcompany.com/90332500/luxury-fashion-is-not-size-inclusive-universal-standard-wants-to-fix-that