“A lot of brands in the plus-size space are lazy and misleading,” says Brooke Cundiff, the co-founder and chief merchandising officer of CoEdition that offers clothing in sizes 14 to 32. “They simply cut a jean by sizing up from a size 6.” This isn’t only a problem with denim. Many brands that make plus-size items use a grading system that involves taking a straight-size sample of a garment and scaling it up to create larger sizes with no other considerations. According to plus-size fashion brand Henning founder Lauren Chan, who spoke about the topic with Refinery29 in July, if a brand skips “steps of redesigning, perhaps resourcing, refitting, and regrading, that cut corner is going to result in clothes that don’t fit people.” Cundiff adds that, in order for plus-size brands to offer women jeans that are both flattering and comfortable, they need to “contour to vastly different figures,” meaning take shape into account.
