Swimsuits for All to Launch Smaller Sizes
Swimsuits for All is growing its size offering.
The swimwear brand, which has catered to curvy women since 2005, will produce sizes 4 and 6 within the Ashley Graham capsule collection, which is available online starting today. The 11-piece line consists of bikinis, one-pieces and cover-ups that are priced between $70 and $100 and available from sizes 4 to 22.
“In the past two years we’ve started getting a response from smaller-size women who were disappointed we didn’t sell suits in their size range,” said Sara Mitzner, vice president of creative and branding at Swimsuits for All. “This was the first opportunity we had from a business standpoint to expand our size range and we’re happy to now cater to even more women.”
According to Mitzner, for a short time period when the company first started, Swimsuits for All targeted men, women and children of all sizes, but began to focus the business on women sizes 8 and up due to customer response. Mitzner believes existing Swimsuits for All’s customers will welcome this change.
“We’re lucky to live in a culture now of women supporting women. The community of women on social media right now is incredible. There’s been such an outpouring of acceptance for women of all ages, backgrounds and sizes,” said Mitzner. “Our core customer appreciates the message of diversity and inclusivity that we’ve always stood for so the more, the merrier.”
Brands expanding their assortment to target curvy women is an ongoing trend, but Swimsuits for All’s move — a plus-size line introducing smaller sizes — is a new type of shift. Mitzner believes more brands will start to think about broadening their offerings in an attempt to create a more inclusive shopping experience.
“Ultimately, it would be great if brands were able to start catering to all women equally,” said Mitzner. “We like to envision a world where women of a certain size aren’t relegated to shopping at specific stores. We should all be able to shop at the same places and expanding our size range is a great step toward that goal.”
Swimsuits for All gained attention in 2015 with its #CurvesInBikinis campaign featuring Graham that appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swim Issue, which marked Graham as the first plus-size model to be featured in the magazine. A year later she appeared on the cover.
The company, which was acquired by Fullbeauty Brands in 2014, has also released capsule collections with Gabi Gregg, a curvy influencer who is also known as GabiFresh, and pieces from that line are currently sold in select Nordstrom stores. Mitzner said the brand will continue to explore more wholesale options and consider producing smaller sizes outside of the Ashley Graham capsule collection.
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