How Klarke Foreman Turned Her Experience Being Bullied into a Successful Fashion Line

Bullying and body-shaming are all too common in today's culture. Klarke Foreman experienced it firsthand when she was in 6th grade. Students would bully her for her body hair and her dress size, saying that she'd look great in her clothes — if she'd just lose 30 pounds. Instead of letting those negative comments hold her back, Klarke decided to use the experience to uplift others, creating a hashtag called #QueensHaveNoSize. It quickly went viral, and led to a totally new endeavor: a Kween to Queen organization, run by Klarke and her sister, Chandler Foreman.

Since launching the organization in 2014, Klarke has created a loving community and safe space for people of all sizes, and even started a clothing line, Kween Kollection. To date, Kween to Queen has raised over 4,000 books for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and recently launched monthly memberships, K2Q YOUniversity, in order to connect with more teen girls across Houston, where the sisters are based.

But according to Klarke, she's just getting started. The curvy model and teen activist opened up to Teen Vogue about bullying, body shaming, and how those experiences fueled her mission to inspire people to become their best selves.

Teen Vogue: What was your childhood like?

KF: The greatest childhood of all time! My parents always kept my siblings and I active, whether it was in sports or church activities. I will always appreciate them for making sure we saw outside of our living situation. I didn’t even know we lived in the “hood” until we moved to a suburban neighborhood [when I was in] 6th grade.

Even though my childhood had its high moments, I also experienced some real life stuff. In middle and high school, I was bullied for my hairy arms and sweaty armpits. I remember rushing to the bathrooms in between every class period just to dry my armpits under the dryers to avoid all of the mean comments. I would even wear hoodies to try and camouflage my arms and sweaty pits, but the sweat always found its way through the fabric. It was awful.

I experienced body shaming from the people closest to me. It’s no secret that I am a part of the curvy crew, rocking a size 14-16. I was told that if I lost 30 pounds, I would look good in all of my clothes. I was also told that I need to lose weight before the situation goes from guys checking me out, to me checking them out. That’s just 2 comments — imagine the others.

On a brighter note, my experiences led to me launching a body positive movement for girls like me: Queens Have No Size. This campaign highlights girls of all shapes, sizes, and colors, relaying the message that your worth is not determined by what you look like. We are Queens because we choose to be and our body has nothing to do with that.

TV: A lot of Millennial and Gen Z celebrities/influencers are running away from the term of "role model." However, your mission is to be a big sister to those who lack good influence. How do you carry the weight?

KF: A role model has always had this connotation of perfection, which limits you and doesn’t allow you to be imperfect. A big sister is the exact opposite: she makes mistakes, which ultimately becomes lessons for the little sister. She is an example of what it means to get up after falling seven million times. She also exemplifies how real the struggle is when it comes to having a difficult time overcoming a particular area in her life. She is real. She is relatable. She is essentially a packaged deal: a best friend, a sister, and sometimes a mother. She is transparent. She does not judge you, but she looks out for you and does her best to lead you in the direction you should go.

God gave me this assignment because I know what it’s like to not have that big sister up close and personal. I’ve been a big sister to Chandler Foreman my entire life. I’ve experienced the pressures of trying to display this perfect image so my sister wouldn’t follow in my same footsteps, while also trying to tear down those walls of perfection to create a real, authentic adult relationship.

My goal is to creating a safe space for girls to simply be their raw, imperfect, yet authentic self, while also challenging them to be their best self. I want to be that for every girl connected to Kween to Queen, because not everyone has that sister biologically, and if they do, the relationship isn't present or the example may not be positive. I love teenage girls with everything in me, and with the right influence we can break the barriers that have been set before them.

TV: Now, that’s real. I also see your next events are free — amazing. Is the mentorship program free, as well? How do you account for costs that are stacked against you? What was your reasoning behind having the program accessible in this way?

KF: Our organization is in the works of becoming a nonprofit. However, our monthly memberships are free. Any girl in the Houston area is welcome to become a member by simply attending one of our events and completing the required paperwork. Since 2014, we’ve been funded by family and friend donations. Outside of that, I also work as a school teacher so a lot of the expenses come from my personal pockets and sometimes team members pitch in. We understand that these teenagers are relying on the funds of their parents. So, to alleviate the financial pressure, we thought it would be best to simply make the event free of charge. We are purpose-driven. Our goal is to truly dedicate our time to the personal development of teenage girls in a positive way.

TV: What was the moment you realized this is what you were meant to be doing?

KF: Earlier, I briefly mentioned our first body-positive campaign, Queens Have No Size. We sold super cute tees that correlated with the campaign, and we had women and men purchase our tees all across the globe. It was very humbling to see that campaign take off the way it did because it revealed how significant the message was in this day and time. It also showed me that my story is not in vain. That’s when I knew that we were on the right track.

This campaign even inspired me to take it a step further, by launching an entire line of apparel: Kween Kollection. We believe that you shouldn’t just say it, but wear it both figuratively and physically. In addition, I also work in Alvin ISD as a teacher. It’s pretty cool because I actually attended elementary, middle, and high school in Alvin ISD. So, to see the current teen girls walking the halls in their high school journey, it reminds me of the teen that I was. Every time I step foot on campus, I literally thank God for this assignment to be an overseer of the future, which is our teens. I would not trade this for anything.

TV: What is your biggest dream in regards to your organization?

KF: My biggest dream for K2Q is to soon have a global girl gang and to have our own buildings across the globe. Since our theme is sisterhood, our goal is to make each of our venues every girl’s second home. But my ultimate dream is to sincerely build a new generation of girls who are committed to becoming their best selves, to live their best lives, and reign like they mean it — to actually see lives being changed through our organization. I would also love to see girls from across the world wearing our apparel and truly believing the words that they are wearing.

TV: What's next for K2Q?

KF: Next on our agenda is to launch new apparel: power tees, hoodies, long-sleeves, etc. A website relaunch will take place which will include new quizzes, new merch, new blogs, and an area where we will provide tutorials on how to [style] our tees. We will also be expanding our media department, by releasing commercials for our apparel and our K2QU memberships. And while all of this is going on, our monthly memberships will take place simultaneously! You can stay up to date on the Kween to Queen website.

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