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| Our "Serene" design on the runway |
One of the challenges I face, as a designer, is the disconnect between the sizes of clothing I make and the sizes of the runway models.
Although it's well-known that most women in North America take a size 12 or higher, runway models tend to be size 6 or size 8. The problem here is the time that has to be spent making styles in smaller sizes when our styles are generally not worn by women in their teens or 20s, but by mature women, decidedly on the plus size of 30 years of age.
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| Serene on a Size 10 |
One of the comments I get is that some of my garments, on the runway, don't seem to have a shape, such as a waist line. In fact, nearly all my jackets have shape, in the form of the cut of the side seam or darts used in the body of the garment, but this just does not show up when the model is so decidedly small compared to the garment. While there are modeling agencies, which offer what are known as "real women" for modeling purposes, the fashion industry is only now coming around to the idea that women take larger sizes.
It's become quite talked about that, for the first time in living memory, some of the larger New York City stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, are actually ordering in clothing in size 12 and up. Historically, the largest size they would order was a size 10.
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| Our design "Svelte" on the runway |
My company, Harobed Designs, has always made clothing in larger sizes. We regularly have sizes 16 and 18. Our emphasis is on providing great style and unique options for women in all sizes. However, it's an uphill battle, and we always appreciate anything our customers or blog followers can do, to get the word out.
So, if you know people who take larger sizes, send them a copy of this post and let them know about our company.
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| Svelte on a size 10 |
In the meantime, the photos I am showing show some of our clothes on the runway, on the models who are size 6 to 8, and then on someone who is more appropriately sized around size 10 or 12. As you can see, the clothes hang better on the person with the larger size.
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| Our design "Influence" on the runway |
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| Influence on a size 10 |
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer
