Rebel, without a pause
‘Pitch Perfect’ actress unveils her new bodycon fashion line for curvy girls
Do curvy girls want to wear tight, body-conscious clothes?
If you ask actress-turned-fashion designer Rebel Wilson, the answer is a resounding yes. But it’s been an “evolving process” to get department stores to agree with her, she says.
The Australian comedy actress, best known for playing Fat Amy on Pitch Perfect, launched her clothing line, Rebel Wilson X Angels. The clothes, which were made available at Nordstrom.com starting July 14 and are available at select Nordstrom stores now, run in sizes 14 through 24 and cost between $49 for a shirt and $129 for a jacket.
Speaking from the Nordstrom Seattle store launch over the weekend, Wilson said, “We have some stuff that’s not bodycon, but then I’m trying to infuse a lot more bodycon stuff in there, because I think women should be confident, whatever their size. They shouldn’t want to hide parts of them.”
Wilson recalls pitching her clothing line to department stores that were of the mindset that plus-size clothes should continue to be more tent-like.
“At first, the stores were like, ‘I don’t know if the plussize girls would wear this, (instead) we still want some of the bigger stuff that kinda hides things,’ ” Wilson says. “To me, I wear a lot of bodycon stuff. I’m like, ‘I think they will (wear the tighter clothes) and I think they’re really gonna like it,’ ” she says. “I like celebrating people’s figures.”
Though the actress infused much of her personal style in the line that has cold-shoulder tops, asymetrical shirts and sheath dresses, she understands the importance of catering to customers. Wilson listened to data that showed “prints are a big seller for plussize women,” she says. As a result, “a little shell top has prints on it, (which) weirdly isn’t something that I personally would wear,” she says. But there’s plenty Wilson does wear, of course. “I love a lot of the jackets,” she says. Her line currently carries a suede motorcycle jacket ($129) and the lilac bomber jacket ($109). “Coming down the track we have a double-sided sequin jacket that you can brush them one way and they look a certain way and you can brush them another way,” she says.
There’s also the neckband shirt ($49) that looks like the top Wilson wore to a launch party in New York City, and the fitted lace-up shoulder top ($69) that the actress rocked at her Seattle store launch.
Wilson, who learned a few tricks of the fashion trade through collaborating on two capsule collections with plus-size brand Torrid (“designing, having a vision, the manufacture process”), expects to release new items every six weeks for her line. Rebel Wilson X Angels will expand to be made available at Dillards, Lord & Taylor, Dia & Co. and more Nordstrom stores next month.