Svoboda Launches Plus-Size Web Site
Plus-size line Svoboda has launched a new e-tail site, www.svobodastyle.com.
The Orange County company, which is repped by Dan Malsin in The New Mart in Los Angeles, features contemporary clothing such as denim, embellished T-shirts and knits in sizes 14 and up.
Owner/designer Jessica Svoboda launched the line about 18 months ago after determining that existing resources for plus-size customers in their 20s and 30s did not incorporate enough fashion.
To appeal to consumers on a national basis, Svoboda last week launched the company’s first Web venture, which currently features highlights from the collection but will eventually contain the entire line.
“There are so many gorgeous, active, social plus-size shoppers out there, myself included, who are fed up with the lack of fashion choices for us. I see Svoboda as an advocate for change,” Svoboda said.
The plus-size market is one of the fastest growing segments in the apparel industry, and, according to Svoboda, the average American woman now wears a size 14. Apparel manufacturers, however, have left a void, she said. While stores such as Hot Topic’s Torrid are addressing the teen segment and others are offering items for misses and older women, the consumer in her 20s and 30s has been left behind, said the former advertising executive.
Svoboda’s Fall lineup includes denim with tattered details and washed and worn finishes. Shirts feature embellishments such as fireworks graphics. New Spring ’06 items include Modal/rayon tops. Retail prices run from about $39 for tees to $170 for premium denim.
“These are made in the same factories as the best premium denim brands,” Svoboda said.
The new Web site features a 1-to-4 sizing system for tops and skirts and carries pants in sizes 14 to 28.
Svoboda will be on hand Aug. 29–Sept. 1 at MAGIC International in Las Vegas. Malsin also wholesales the collection in suite A367 of the California Market Center.For more information, call (213) 624-7800.
—Robert McAllister
