When it comes to diversity and inclusion, the fashion industry often lags behind other industries. Though the fashion industry has made a valiant effort including models of color on runways and fashion campaigns and top staff positions at major fashion publications do appear to be more diverse than in past decades, size inclusion seems to be the bottom of the inclusion totem pole.
Gita Omri seeks to change all of that. Omri knows all about the challenges of finding garments that are appealing to larger-sized women. Being a plus-size consumer herself, Omri has dealt with the challenges of shopping for her size, as well as the challenges of finding inclusion in the fashion industry as a plus-size designer.
For Omri designing for larger women is all about the fit. Instead of taking standard sized garments and just making those garments in a larger size, Omri specifically purchases textiles and creates garments with her plus-size customer in mind.
Omri describes her collection and clothing line as less about plus-size fashion and more about designing for women. This was quite evident in how the spring 2023 chow was presented. Omri chose to have a standard-size model and a large model walk side by side wearing the same idea.
Though this was a novel idea, it is something that should have occurred in fashion shows a long time ago. Most fashion shows that include larger or plus-size models will only have two or three looks on a larger model. Which means if you are a larger-sized consumer, it may be a challenge to image yourself in the garments modeled by standard-size model.
That mystery or challenge has been eliminated in Omri’s fashion shows. And for the most part this Omri’s approach to size inclusion worked. What was a downside in this outing was Omri’s penchant for sticking to very basic silhouettes.
Images courtesy of VERY New York PR
Still, what this collection lacked in panache it made up for in fit and accessibility. And that is a significant accomplishment. And the addition of top model Precious Lee to the runway presentation was a boon for this brand.
If Gita Omri can inject more intricate design elements in her collections, there is no doubt that her brand will be one of the go-to brands for women of varying sizes.
William S. Gooch
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