Emme, who rose to fame within the mid-’90s as the primary well-known plus-size model and is now founding father of the True Beauty Foundation, teamed along with her alma mater Syracuse University and online plus-size retailer OneStopPlus for the eighth annual Fashion Without Limits design competition.

Plus-size designer Zahir Babvani, head of design and magnificence for OneStopPlus, answerable for the corporate’s growing roster of plus-size brands equivalent to Woman Inside, Jessica London and Eloquii, held a virtual masterclass on plus-size design and magnificence for the university’s College of Visual and Performing Arts Fashion Design class of 2024. OneStopPlus is an element of FullBeauty Brands, which caters to plus-size women and massive and tall men and estimates the general plus-size market to generate $81 billion in sales.

Babvani challenged the group of future designers to create the subsequent “It” style for curvy women, keeping in mind costs, the heightened demand for versatility and customer’s multiple needs from casual to work to dressy.

The Fashion Without Limits design competition skipped 2020 resulting from the pandemic.

Greater than 20 students participated within the competition to have their designs manufactured and dropped at marketplace for fall 2023. The winning designer was Nina Chen, who designed a “Tulip Dress,” which was a black dress fabricated from Ponte knit fabric and tailored to flatter all body types.

The “Tulip Dress” is slated to be introduced on the OneStopPlus marketplace this fall as a part of an exclusive collaboration between OneStopPlus and Emme’s Fashion Without Limits partnership with Syracuse. The winning garment will feature special hangtags giving the coed designer name recognition, while bolstering the FWL program.

“I got here into fashion so captivated with many issues within the industry, but inclusive design was not on my radar,” said Chen, who’s a rising senior majoring in fashion design. “Through my journey working on the competition and now interning with OneStopPlus, I’m learning that, with the suitable approach and mindset, inclusive design can and ought to be an element of each designer’s portfolio.”

Chen, who hails from Palo Alto, California, is a first-generation college student who grew up in a low-income household. Her Bible study teacher taught her to stitch in elementary school, and she or he began taking apart clothes (old hand-me downs) to create fashions that she liked. She also created clothes for her Barbie. During her junior 12 months of highschool, Chen got her first job at a stitching shop called Needles Studio Los Altos, and she or he found her profession.

Chen noted that the competition inspired her to think more in regards to the end user of her designs. “Emerging designers are inclined to deal with ‘cool’ fashions that we might wear. Emme and Zahir really helped me to know the importance of constructing fashion accessible to all women, and I sit up for being more inclusive with my designs throughout my profession,” Chen said.

Emme, founding father of Fashion Without Limits, noted, “Learning from successful designers like Zahir Babvani shows young designers that it is a rewarding profession path. Syracuse University is on the forefront of constructing inclusive design an exciting area of concentration giving tomorrow’s designers the talents, and talent, to enact real change on the style landscape. We hope this program will change into a template for other schools moving forward.”

For her winning design, Chen received a $500 prize from Syracuse, in addition to a summer 2023 internship with Babvani and his team in the corporate’s Latest York headquarters. She’s going to help spearhead the winning design’s evolution from early CAD drawings through every stage of production to the finished product and launch. Chen will receive a percentage of sales as a part of the prize package.

Babvani said, “Putting your best self forward begins with dressing the part in clothes were made for you by a dedicated plus-size designer who understands your fit needs and your modern lifestyle. I chosen this design since it embodies modern style for the true woman. It’s each fashionable and wearable.”

ChaCha Hudson, assistant teaching professor at Syracuse, added, “Collaborating with Emme to develop a talent pool of designers who understand the best way to design for the plus market opens up a world of opportunities for our students. Even in the event that they select to not focus on plus sizes, every fashion brand has the potential to expand their size range to incorporate plus-size women, however it must be done right. This competition exposes our students to plus-size design fundamentals, enabling them to make a difference within the lives of plus-size women wherever they decide to work.”