QVC Drives Inclusivity With ‘Girl With Curves’
At QVC, there’s a long track record of promoting body positivity and inclusive sizing – and it’s getting longer.
On Friday, QVC.com begins selling a “Girl With Curves” collection in collaboration with Tanesha Awasthi, a style blogger, social media personality, designer, creator of the Girl With Curves website and champion of inclusive sizing. Awasthi will appear live on QVC on Saturday.
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“My mission is to inspire confidence and celebrate curves in every size,” Awasthi said. “Girl With Curves is polished but practical, elevated yet effortless. It’s a modern take on classic fashion made to fit and flatter curves of all shapes and sizes.”
“The collection is designed exclusively for QVC by our internal design and global sourcing team, but Tanesha was involved in everything, from start to finish,” Rachel Ungaro, QVC’s vice president and general merchandise manager of apparel, told WWD. “She’s a fashion icon in her own right.”
Ungaro cited the collection’s “truly elevated wardrobe staples.…Some of my personal favorites are the faux leather pleated skirt and really beautiful polka dot blouse slightly bohemian-inspired, and the amazing peplum rubbed sweater.”
The debut Girl With Curves drop has about 20 pieces, priced $28 to $100, a range that Ungaro said falls in a QVC sweet spot.
QVC and Awasthi are currently working on a spring 2022 drop, though there will be some additions for the holiday 2021 season.
QVC’s history in inclusive sizing goes back 30 years, and includes collaborations with Hunter McGrady, Savonne Dorsey, Candace Cameron Burr and Jason Wu.
In America, “The majority of women really do identify with size 12 and 14 and up,” Ungaro said. “It’s an underserved market, but we have always been in this space.” All fashion sold on QVC, whether on its website, its apps, on social platforms or through livestreaming on a device or on TV, is offered in petite, regular, plus and tall sizes. Apparel sizes range from XXS to 3X or 5X. Size-inclusive categories also include outerwear, accessories, jewelry, footwear and intimates.
QVC and HSN, which are part of Qurate Retail Group, partnered with Alvanon, a global fit firm, to utilize body scans from more than 100,000 women to create standards both in physical mannequin form and digital avatar form, to obtain a better fit for customers. Additionally, QVC and HSN conduct live fit sessions with models of various sizes to gain feedback, resulting in fewer returns. Placement prints, embellishments, pockets and zippers are graded up and down so they’re appropriate for different sizes.
QVC works with a stable of designers and others who are more than ready to participate in the program. “In a lot of cases, designers want to really be able to offer their fashions to all women,” Ungaro said. QVC, she added, has the technical design and sourcing capabilities to team with designers, some of whom otherwise would have difficulties doing special sizes correctly.
Asked if the profit margins are different in plus sizes, considering the additional fabric required, Ungaro replied, “We really don’t look at it that way. We don’t look at pricing missy versus plus.” At retail, “We price everything the same.” So a style in a plus size is priced the same as the same style in missy.
Girl With Curves is designed for “modern, fashion-forward women that appreciate a classic style with a contemporary twist,” Ungaro said. “Her collection is filled with great basic pieces, and then she’s got these really great inspirational pieces like a beautiful animal print dress. Tanesha is so passionate and so relatable. She knows how to dress different types of bodies.”
A History of Inclusivity
1990: QVC begins offering apparel in sizes XXS to 3X, alongside accessories and footwear for all sizes.
2003: QVC creates an in-house agency, Design Development and Global Sourcing.
2009-10: QVC improves the sizing and shape of its design forms for all body types, with assistance from fit experts.
May 2020: “All Worthy Hunter McGrady” collection launches at QVC, designed from a plus-size-first perspective.
November 2020: J Jason Wu, a size-inclusive brand, debuts at QVC.
April 2021: Candace Cameron Bure brings her first apparel collection to QVC.
September 2021: Influencer and designer Tanesha Awasthi launches at QVC.
