Eco Fashion World

The ethical issues surrounding the ever controversial topic of 'plus size' models were challenged by designer Mark Fast at this years’ London Fashion Week. From his disapproving stylist, who quit following Marks decision to use the plus size models, to the critical views of the fashion world, Mark had his work cut out for him! "A lot of people think it's not appropriate to use plus-size models," he said. "But I met these girls and I loved their charisma. They're just jewels, you know?"

A designer who has started creating beautiful eco clothing especially for curvy women, is Diane Kennedy in downtown Vancouver, BC. "Many plus size women hate shopping because there is so little choice for them and what is out there is often not appealing. Being a size 1X myself and working in the fashion business, I wanted to create a line that caters for this group". Diane started in 2007 with some items that immediately became bestsellers. One of them is the Serene pant that has a smooth elastic waistband instead of a zipper or buttons which makes for high comfort in wearing. For women it is all about feeling good in their clothes and a waistband like this doesn’t create any additional bumps or volume but instead slims down the silhouette. The basic pants can be worn with all of the gorgeous tops and jackets that Diane creates: from elegant drapes to practical wraps to more body fitting shapes. "I basically design what I would like to wear myself, she says, and the trick is to focus on your best parts while being gentle to the parts you may want to hide". Most of the tops are thus tighter at the bossom, some even show off your cleavage, and then flow out in the lower regions.

Although Diane has tried several fabrics for her designs, her customers all rave about the organic bamboo jersey and this has now become the sole fabric she uses. It comes in many beautiful colors, from bright fuchsia for spring to juniper green for fall. Diane doesn’t do any patterns or prints and keeps the pieces in one tone which makes it easy to combine them. For fall 2010 she will introduce some versatile tops and dresses that can be worn in different ways according to the preference of the wearer.

Key to Diane’s success is her strong relationship with her customers and retailers. They are the ones giving her valuable feedback on how to improve her designs and who have helped her grow the collection over the past few years. They were the ones telling her that she should make her designs not just in plus sizes but smaller sizes too so her collection is now available from a size S all the way to a size 3X. Retail prices vary from $90 to $ 230. You can find Diane’s collection in stores across the US and Canada and very soon in her own online store. If you have curves and want to buy organic and look fabulous, check out Diane’s line!

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