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 Zara 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 felt so bad about myself.”
Ashly Rae
“I popped down to Zara and tried on probably 10 different pairs of jeans and dresses and 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.
“I felt so bad about myself.”
Inspired to set up business
It was after this Ms Rae, who insured her 37″ legs for £1 million at the start of her career, decided to go ahead and create Elswear.
She said: “Since posting I’ve had so many women message me and say thank you so much for sharing this and saying they’ve felt exactly the same.
“It wasn’t just Zara 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 everyday at the label and see that I’m a 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 right 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.”
Bestsellers
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: “When you are building any new business it takes time and focus.
“You need to adjust and listen to what the customers want.
“It’s been really positive so far.
“We have definitely made a profit. Sales have been positive and on an upward trend – heading in the right direction.
“Bodysuits and comfortable loungewear have been our top sellers.
“What I try and do is take that into consideration and have pieces of clothing that can be worn for multiple occasions in multiple ways.
“Outfit repeating is what we aim for.”
Flagship store for Aberdeen
Looking to the future Ms Rae is keen to open a store in the Granite City and expand her range of stylish, comfortable lounge wear and urban-style baseball caps.
She said: “A lot of brands overlook Aberdeen as somewhere people want stylish clothes as we are a little bit out of the way.
“I would love to bring a bit of that back to Aberdeen. Would be great to have a flagship store in Aberdeen and then expand from there.
“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.
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