The fashion industry needs to stick with plus-size consumers, according to content creator and curve model Remi Bader.
Bader took her message from TikTok to the trade show this week at Magic in Las Vegas. In a conversation with Rachel McCord, the founder of The McCord List, the social media personality shared how she turned her personal journey as a plus-size consumer into a career helping brands become more size inclusive.
Now a brand ambassador for Victoria’s Secret Pink and a collaborator with Revolve, Bader’s TikTok career began in 2020 after she lost her job at Jay Z’s music streaming service, Tidal. The social media platform helped Bader to find her voice and regain her confidence during what was otherwise an isolating period.
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“I was in a dark place at the time. I gained a significant amount of weight. And I always struggled shopping as a size 10-12, but once I became a size 14-16, I realized how impossible it is to shop not only online but even more in stores,” she said.
In her now-viral TikTok haul videos, Bader shares her honest and relatable try-on experiences as a plus-size woman with a touch of humor and vulnerability. Her frustration with fashion’s lack of sizing that addresses diverse bodies is the underlying message, however. If she’s not feeling good about herself, it is likely connected to fashion or the dearth of attractive styles available to women who wear clothing sizes bigger than the standard, according to Bader, who said she has temporary “freak outs” when she doesn’t feel comfortable.
“We want to feel good in our clothes. We want to wear the same thing everyone else is wearing,” she said about the plus-size consumer market.
The message resonates with her 2.2 million TikTok followers, and brands are taking note as well, albeit at a slower pace than Bader would like to see. Any progress is positive, however, she added.
“You can always do more, but in my mind the baby steps are important,” Bader said, acknowledging the reality that big companies have a hard time reworking their internal processes and mindset. “It takes time and I want to be that person [helping them move] along.”
A haul video led to Bader’s first collaboration with online retailer Revolve last year. In it, she called out the Revolve styles she felt confident in and the ones she didn’t.
“I basically said in that video I just wish that I can wear this brand,” Bader said. “I said, maybe one day you will have larger sizes and you can call it Revolve x Remi, or something like that, and they literally called my team that next day.”
The Bader collaboration was Revolve’s first plus-size collection, offering styles like metallic bodysuits, two-piece sets and maxi and mini dresses for sizes XXS-4X.
The next collection dropping in November is entirely based on feedback from the first. While Bader said the initial collection focused on the sexy body-con silhouettes that she likes to wear, her followers asked for looser and more conservative styles.
“A lot of people were saying ‘okay, just because you’re comfortable in your body wearing crop tops and tight things, I’m not,’” she said.
Though Bader’s first collaboration with Revolve sold well enough to greenlight a second installment, she said sizes 3X and 4X “sold way less.”
The Revolve sales confirmed what her father, Seven7 women’s denim brand executive Gary Bader, has said for years. Brands extend their size range but then barely anyone buys the product, resulting in wasted money and textiles. “I get it,” she said. “But it takes time and effort marketing to a whole new customer.”
Size-inclusive brands and retailers, she added, need to invest time and marketing dollars to educate plus-size consumers about their products. It won’t happen with one season or one collection. Bader pointed out that plus-size consumers are accustomed to having a limited range of brands and retailers they can shop. They may not know what is available beyond their go-to plus-size brands.
It’s why she plans to target her message to size 3X-4X consumers in the next few months for the soon-to-launch Revolve collection. “I’m not dropping the sizes,” she said.
