plus size designersplus size brandsThe Hour Plus size clothes

Seven new plus-size labels to know now

‘A lot of the contemporary brands I love stop at a size 14 or 16 at a push, so I’m always hunting for the styles I can squeeze into.’ So says Jada Sezer, plus-size model and body-positivity advocate. And her sentiments are a familiar frustration to plenty of women: for many years those above a size 14 have been made – by certain brands, both high street and high end – to feel that they’re not welcome. Those brands simply didn’t make clothes that fitted them. Instead, plus-size shoppers were forced into specialist stores, frequently limited to badly cut styles in poor-quality fabrics. However, with the average British woman now shopping for a size 16 and plus-size accounting for 20 per cent of Britain’s womenswear spend in 2017, brands are finally beginning to respond. The plus-size market in the UK alone is valued at £6.6 billion. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram have also given women a voice to call out brands that try to make them feel ashamed of their size. And they’ve given these women a place to show that, just like a size 8 blogger, they too are interested in fashion and can style up a storm. From sustainable swimwear to customisable dresses, here are seven new ‘size inclusive’ brands aimed at giving all women access to stylish pieces.

 

The Hour

Originally an obstetrician-gynaecologist in Tbilisi, Georgia, Nana Rasoeva moved to the UK in 2000. After going up a couple of sizes, the mother of three was frustrated by her clothing options (‘uninspiring, shapeless polyester’). She retrained as a designer and founded her label in 2018: a range of coats, dresses, shirts, trousers and knits in UK sizes 14-28, from £135. ‘We’re adept at cutting for curves; balancing proportions or shaping the waist to accentuate the female form,’ she says. ‘Style is about expressing yourself, making sure you look and feel great regardless of size or age.’ Her biggest hit is the classic tuxedo trousers. ‘I wore them to the Fashion Awards in December with our Diaphanous coat, but you can also dress them down with a white cotton shirt and trainers.’