Rebel Wilson, one of the funniest actresses in modern times, has achieved a lot since she stormed her way into Hollywood, with parts in hit comedy Bridesmaids and playing the iconic character of ‘Fat Amy’ in the Pitch Perfect films. Showing no signs of slowing down, Rebel Wilson has recently launched her own clothing line with plus-size brand, Torrid. Launched in LA at Inside Milk Studios, the line arrived in stores on November 1st with thirty pieces, all link back to Wilson herself. For example, a t shirt with a gangster koala bear printed onto it, a tribute to Rebel Wilson’s home country and her love of hip-hop) and sweatshirts emblazoned with the word ‘Rebel’.
The fact that the A-list star has launched her own collection shows how far the plus-sized industry has evolved. It has only been in recent years that plus-size fashion has really become its own industry, before this plus-size clothing was limited to a few items at the back of the shop. The mainstream fashion world has continued to neglect this growing industry, and there clearly is a demand for plus-size clothing, leaving a gap in the market just waiting to be snapped up by a plus-size fashion mogul. Plus-size fashion now has its own supermodels such as Tess Holliday, its own magazines, runway events and power bloggers who are filling the gap the mainstream fashion world so carelessly disregarded. Two thirds of American women wear a size fourteen upwards (UK size sixteen) and Torrid’s Vice President for marketing said that “Plus is no different than anybody else…Girls just want to wear what everybody else is wearing, but they want it to fit them and make them look sexy and beautiful”. Rebel Wilson’s collection is launched just three months after fellow plus-size actress Melissa McCarthy started her own collection for Seven7.
“I always try to wear tracksuits on the red carpet, but my stylists always convince me to wear a dress…my natural state is elastic waistbands” Wilson was overheard saying at the launch party. Tiffany Kaelin-Knit, the editor in chief of Skorch, an online magazine that covers alternative plus-size fashion approved of Ms Wilson’s collection, saying “It’s another win for plus-size fashion…no frumpy cover-up. You’re out, you’re proud, you’re fat, you’re happy”. Rebel Wilson has had a whirlwind career, with her part in Bridesmaids written especially for her after she first auditioned for Melissa McCarthy’s role. Growing up, she planned on becoming a lawyer or politician. She hated shopping because nothing stylish ever acme in her size, she says “I remember not going to a lot of people’s weddings, purely because I didn’t have an outfit that was nice enough”. After a bout of malaria caught whilst travelling to Africa as Youth Ambassador, Wilson claims she had a medication-induced hallucination in which she saw herself winning an Oscar. After recovering, she promptly went back to Australia and enrolled in acting school. She also studied law alongside acting, the pressure doing nothing to keep her weight down. One of her first jobs was in a play at the Sydney Theatre Company, in which she realised that people were laughing at her “I thought I was playing a serious role, but then I came on and people just started laughing”. Instead of crumbling, like I think many of us would in that situation, Wilson reassessed the situation and realise that “fat is funny, in a weird way…people find it easier to laugh at bigger girls. And I thought, that’s going to be my game plan”.
You can order from Rebel’s collection at www.torrid.com
feature image: Kendrick Brinson for NYTimes
Holly Martin
