The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Model creates her own body positive brand of clothing
Banchory model Ashly Rae has set up her own fashion label for women after getting fed up with high street sizing.
The 36-year-old launched Elswear after putting on weight during lockdown and struggling to find comfortable clothing.
The former Banchory Academy pupil went up three dress sizes from an extra small to a large, and decided it was time to treat herself to some new clothing.
However, a trip to a fashion chain was a less than pleasant experience leaving Ms Rae frustrated.
She said: “I had put on weight during lockdown and thought I would treat myself to new clothes to fit my new, slightly rounder body.
“I popped down to a store and tried on probably 10 different pairs of jeans and dresses but they were all too small.
“That was probably two sizes larger than I would normally get, a medium. I tried the large, and a lot of them were too small as well.”
It was after this Ms Rae, who insured her 37in legs for £1 million at the start of her career, decided to create Elswear.
She said: “Since posting I’ve had so many women message me to say thank you so much for sharing this and saying they’ve felt exactly the same.
“It wasn’t just one chain but other stores as well.
“I really wasn’t happy with it and thought I’m forcing myself in to a smaller size because I don’t want to look at the label every day and see that I’m an extra large or a large.
“So how many other women were feeling that way?
“I decided to set up my own fashion brand. I thought no one else is doing it, so I’ll do it myself.”
Elswear clothing doesn’t
come with traditional sizing labels. Instead Ms Rae wanted to make sure it offered positive messages for women.
She said: “Our sizes are positive words. Small is a strong, medium is magnetic and large is a limitless.
“When you place your order on the website you are just selecting a size that has a positive connotation to the word.”
Since launching in March last year Ms Rae, who has modelled for Victoria
Beckham and Harrods, has been encouraged with how well the brand is doing with bodysuits and comfortable loungewear the top sellers.
She said: “We have made a profit. Sales have been positive and heading in the right direction.
“Bodysuits and comfortable loungewear have been our top sellers.
“What I try to do is take that into consideration and have pieces of clothing that can be worn for multiple occasions in multiple ways.
Looking to the future Ms Rae is keen to open a store in the Granite City and expand her range of stylish, comfortable loungewear and baseball caps.
She said: “It would be great to have a flagship store in Aberdeen.
“We are working on designing our new loungewear which will launch in the next couple of months and there’s caps which will launch in about three weeks’ time.”