Elaine Crowley has revealed that her inspiration for her new clothing line came from personal struggles.
The tv star teamed up with one of her favourite brands to launch a plus size collection.
Though it’s not set to launch for another few weeks, but Elaine showed off a teaser of the range at the Virgin Media One Autumn Launch.
“This is the first one, it’s not launching for another little while. This is just one of the samples that came back that I designed. It’s with So Amazing, they’ve made a lot of stuff for me for the red carpet before because it’s hard to get feckin’ anything really over the size 12.”
The host explained that the collaboration came about naturally after she and the brand got queries from women about Elaine’s dresses.
“The past few years they ended up customising clothes for me and then they’d get phone calls saying ‘where can we buy these clothes’ and they were like ‘it’s a one-off for Elaine!’ so then it was a case of ‘wouldn’t it be an idea to make them for more women’ and this one is grand it’s stretchy so I can have a pizza, I can wear a bra, and there’s lace, I love it.”
Elaine also explained that many plus size clothes can be frustrating as they are not comfortable or practical.
“It comes down to the people who are designing clothes because you need to be able to wear underwear!
“I mean you don’t want to be sticking things to your body and taping things. Especially when you have an event and that’s what really stuck out for me. When you have a wedding, or a ball, or a debs and you want to look good. You want the basics of being able to zip up the back and wear a bra,” she said.
“Yes, it may be a size 18 or 16 but it’s backless, and is size 18 that wears a backless dress? You end up having to bring it to the local dressmaker and fixing it. It’s just the practicalities I felt were important.”
The 40-year-old is planning to expand the range and continue to design more inclusive clothing.
“It’s occasion wear and evening wear so far, so smart casual. Next year I’m looking at tops and shirts and stuff. It’s all in boutiques so far.”
We can’t wait to see her new collection.
