Clothes should fit you, not the other way around: On the importance of sizing inclusivity

At Al Elé, we believe that fashion should be for every body. We're excited to be part of the shift toward a more inclusive fashion landscape, where everyone can feel confident exactly as they are.

As society increasingly recognises the importance of authentic diversity across all social spaces, the fashion industry is under pressure to apply these learnings. In particular, inclusivity advocates criticise the overrepresentation of tall, lean body types which wrongly reinforces the idea that only one body is acceptable, which has generated harmful impacts that are overwhelmingly experienced by women. 

Thanks to growing advocacy efforts, however, small but strong shifts are underway, evident in emerging concepts like sizing inclusivity.

A fundamental pillar of Al Elé’s ethos, sizing inclusivity entails catering to a wide range of body shapes and sizes that celebrates the uniqueness of all body types. Sizing inclusivity not only ensures that a broad range of sizes are available, but that clothing lines are tailored to flatter a wider demographic than is typically represented in commercial fashion. 

When asked about why sizing inclusivity is important, Alice Kavanagh Federici, the founder and designer behind Al Elé, has a matter-of-fact response:

“Because everyone is different. Some people are six foot tall and 40 kilos, and others are five foot and 80 kilos. We're all different.”

In addition to her observations across the fashion industry, much of Alice’s commitment to facilitate size-inclusive fashion was generated by her personal experiences with clothing. 

“I'm about six foot tall, a little bit more,” says Alice. “Even in primary school - so you know, at 10 years old - I was shopping in the women's section. I wasn't a petite child.”

“So I always had to shop a bit older than me and I'd have to size up two or three sizes to get the sleeve length right - so then the body was totally out of whack. It's little things like that, which make a huge difference. Not just for women who have dealt with that, but also to younger people who ask, ‘why doesn't this fit? I don't like the way this looks on me’, you know?” 

Although perceptions and norms around body type and size are evolving, there is still work to be done. For example, Alice points out that the average Australian woman is size 16 - yet, many Australian brands fail to offer beyond a size 14. 

And the negative impacts of sizing limitations are obvious. Alice frequently encounters young women who are reluctant to move up a size, even when the larger size is a better fit. 

“Especially to these women, I always say, ‘you're not made to fit clothes. Clothes are made to fit you,’” asserts Alice.

At Al Elé, we’re proud to be part of the movement that normalises sizing inclusivity. We do this through offering sizes 8 through to 20 across all our collections, in addition to personalised tailoring services. We believe that everyone deserves to feel confident exactly as they are - and it feels like customers are catching on. 

“I get a lot of women look at me and they go, ‘you're tall. You'll have something for me’. And they're so excited, and then they show me like, ‘look at my cropped pants, and this is the longest they can go!’, you know. And then we make them a full-length pant, and they're absolutely over the moon,” says Alice.

Sizing inclusivity is a critical production consideration at Al Elé, and one that we continue reassess for the best possible outcomes. 

“I definitely think there's been improvement across the industry,” says Alice, “but there is also a long way to go. It's just a little bit more work that I think is really worth putting in - it's actually not that hard to be inclusive.”

Interested in our tailoring services? Get in touch.