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At this point, influencer clothing collaborations have become an expected part of the fashion industry. Sometimes, it feels like there’s a brand launching a new one every day. In theory, it’s a good premise — a way to combine the style and creativity of a popular creator and the fit knowledge and economies of scale of an existing company to create something new. In practice, however, it doesn’t always pan out so well: Oftentimes, it ends up being more of a curation or rubber-stamping of styles already in production, and feels more promotional than anything. When the influencers chosen for these collabs all look pretty much the same, it isn’t too surprising when the collections start to blend together, too.
Universal Standard is launching an actually unique, adaptive, truly collaborative collection today with Jordan Underwood (they/he), a fat liberation advocate, model, and artist. The five-style capsule wardrobe is a departure from the size-inclusive label’s usual offerings: The press release promised “the brand’s first-ever fully adaptable collection, deviating from the hyper-femme options popularly offered to the plus-size market.” This is a real gap in an already underserved size range, particularly when it comes to extended plus sizes (generally considered anything over a size 3x/24W).
“I’m so proud to say this process was a true collaboration, finding where my style meets the Universal Standard customer, who also lives a busy full life and needs clothes to support that,” Underwood tells Refinery29. “I was excited about implementing my first-hand experience as a customer into the making of a collection, and the design team and I worked closely from start to finish. We spent hours sourcing fabrics, reviewing potential silhouettes, brainstorming cool details and finishes, discussing colorways…no detail was ignored.”
Underwood was the first person to try on each sample during Universal Standard’s extensive fit process. “It was so important that the clothes fit in the way I envisioned,” they said. “I wanted the tank to have a bit of a crop; the pants to be a bit looser on the legs; the sweatshirt to feel a bit oversized — small adjustments that really made the collection feel like me.”
The multi-hyphenate shared more about how the collaboration came about and what they’re most excited about for this innovative androgynous fashion collection.
When did you first think about doing a clothing collab?
As a model and content creator, I have always used clothes to spread joy, encourage self-love, and express myself. I’m a long-time customer of Universal Standard, and have also worked with the team on social campaigns and modeled in their shoots over the years. I’ve always appreciated the brand’s commitment to the customer, to exceeding the …read more
Source:: Refinery29