NATIONAL: Plus-size designer label Damn You Alexis has not ruled out a move into the boutique market, following its decision to launch exclusively through its own online store.
The womenswear brand recently launched with a capsule spring/summer 2010 collection, offering trend-driven styles in sizes 16 to 24.
The debut range is largely comprised of little black dresses featuring power shoulders and ombre dip dying, as well as body-con and bandage detailing and shorter hemlines.
Priced from $49 for a basic tank to $399 for a sculpted dress, the collection also has a limited edition skirt valued at $429.
Founder and designer Megan Moir Pardy was inspired to launch the brand after spending ten years working at women's fashion magazines including Harper's Bazaar and Grazia.
"You wouldn’t believe how many amazing clothes I’ve seen and then had to turn around and try to piece together an outfit based on what’s available in plus size in Australia," she said.
"There just seemed like such an amazing opportunity to produce incredible clothes for this market."
Damn You Alexis is manufactured in Sydney, with its signature fabrication a mid-weight ponti which "sucks you in all the right places".
Moir Pardy said the decision to launch the brand via www.damnyoualexis.com was a response to the current plus-size retail market in Australia.
"I want to be considered as an 'Australian designer' not a 'plus-size designer," she said. "I don’t want to be buried in the plus-size section of Myer or DJs - I want to be sold where all the other Australian designers are sold.
"Really I’m just selling to the same market as they are just the 16 to 24 segment of it. I'm hoping I can convince boutique stores that currently only sell size six to 12 to stock me."