When it’s successful, shopping can be exhilarating and fun, but when you strike out, it can be one of the most frustrating and disheartening experiences. Both ring true no matter what size you are, but given the fashion industry’s resistance to extended sizing, shopping beyond a size XL tends to skew more frustrating than it does fun.
Nobody has been outspoken about this struggle quite like Remi Bader has. The curve model and content creator has garnered an audience of over two million for her hilarious “realistic clothing hauls,” in which she tries on a series of pieces from popular brands and retailers and shows everything—the good, bad, and ugly of it all. The try-on videos quickly went viral, resonating with, well, anyone who’s tried on clothing. While Bader’s lighthearted take on common shopping woes is something we can all relate to, her message hits on a core fashion-industry issue: It’s nearly impossible to find on-trend plus-size clothes.
Bader has made it her mission to make shopping fun again, and today marks a huge win not only for the digital star but also for anyone who enjoys a trendy fashion find. Enter Remi x Revolve, an exclusive capsule that introduces the Revolve shopper to extended sizes for the very first time. With Bader overseeing the design and fit, it runs from sizes XXS to 4X and launches in two drops—one out now and one to come in September. We caught up with Bader to chat about her hand in the collection, the challenges of shopping for extended sizes, and, of course, her favorite Remi x Revolve pieces.
By now, you’ve been working with Revolve regularly and have attended several of its notorious Revolve Around the World trips. But how did this collaboration initially come about?
It was a very organic partnership. I posted in March of 2021 doing a realistic haul like I did with other brands. In the nicest way possible, I was saying [in the video], “I really want to wear these clothes, but I can’t.” In the haul, I was showing some of the bad and some of the good of what things looked like on me. I was essentially saying to them, “Come on—let’s do better.”
The day after that, the video got passed around their offices. It wouldn’t be for another two weeks before they reached out, but right out of the gate, they wanted to work together in a more meaningful way. They admitted that they’d been wanting to find more ways to expand their sizing and were like, “We think Remi is the perfect person to do it.”
I find it ironic that this project came from a video in which you were essentially criticizing the brand. When you were making that initial “realistic Revolve haul” video that led you here, what were your main criticisms of the brand? And now that you’ve worked so closely with the Revolve team, how receptive were they to what you had to say?
They’ve been receptive since day one, which is why I wanted to work with them. I feel like they were very honest and open. They know that a size small is their main customer, and they just don’t have that larger customer base yet, but they want to. They understand, being that they’re amazing at marketing, that they can’t just get that [customer base]. It’s not that easy.
A lot of these brands and companies are like, “Oh, we tried launching a larger size, and it just didn’t work out.” You have to put so much effort into marketing and get that customer to trust that you’re doing the right thing. So I think [Revolve] wanted to do [it the right way]. I didn’t even have as big of an audience as I do now, but they still felt that they could trust me to help them do this and guide them. I’ve been updating the size chart and changing the fit models to who I think would be the right size. I’ve had every part in this, which makes it so great.
I think it’s the same with all my realistic hauls. Most brands [I’ve featured] have reached out. I never thought that would happen because, in my mind, I was bashing them in a way. But when you really think about it, I’m just showing that there’s a lack of trendy clothes for my size.
What role exactly have you played in the creation of this line? Did you have a hand in the design direction, the fit of the garments?
I began thinking about what I wanted the brand to be. Do I want it to be a beachy brand or more for going out? From there, we went through hundreds of possible silhouettes, and they sent me different fabric swatches before we narrowed it down.
Since they’ve always had a pretty small customer, they just always have had one size-small fit model, and I was like, “We definitely need a smaller body, but we also need a larger one, and then we can grid up and down based on those two.” I actually redid the whole size chart because this is a recurring issue in the feedback I’ve gotten—that Revolve-owned brands run small. I would rather be true to size or have it run a little bigger. I just hate when things run small.
In just the past two weeks I actually got feedback that there was an issue with the size chart for my followers and we completely readjusted it in our production and added a brand new size—going up to 4X instead of 3X. I’m taking the feedback from my followers and bringing it to Revolve and they’re being so proactive just so we can do this as right as possible.
This is Revolve’s very first foray into sizes past XL. What is the sizing range like for this collection?
I definitely got some backlash for just going to 3X, as we had initially planned to do. So from that feedback after it was announced, we’re now going to 4X in the majority of styles. There’s a lot of pieces—30 pieces—and the collection is split into two drops: one in August and one in September. So most of the pieces that go to 4X are in the later drop.
You have so much experience when it comes to the fit of all these brands that you’ve filmed try-on hauls with. What essential gap in the market were you hoping to fill with Revolve line? Is there a certain item that you felt like you could never find that you wanted to produce here?
It’s not even one piece, I really took everything that I’ve never been able to easily find for myself. For instance, the number one thing for me was doing a three-piece suit (which is in the second drop) with a blazer, pants, and matching vest underneath. This past September for fashion week, I’d been looking online for a matching blazer and pants set in my size and for three weeks I couldn’t find it. I kept thinking, why is that so hard? So the fact I could take what I wanted and create that was super exciting for me.
Another item I’m excited about is our Faux Leather Blazer. They’re always so tight on my shoulders and never fit the right way. Yes, it’s a basic item, but it has to fit right. I’m realizing now that everything is very Remi. There’s a lot of form-fitting silhouettes and showing a little bit of skin, because that’s how I am. But I tried to make things with everyone else in mind. There are some items that have a small button inside so that if you don’t want it to be as low cut you can button it up. Since this was my first drop, it’s a lot of things that I would personally love to wear and then if we do this again, I would like to add more things that people want to see.
How would you describe the aesthetic of the capsule? What area of your closet do these pieces fill?
There’s a few blazers and dresses that you can make a little more conservative or wear to work if you wanted, but on the whole I would say it’s more about pieces to wear out on the tow. It’s pretty colorful and fun-loving. Lots of colors that can work now and into the fall.
Which pieces are you most excited about?
There’s a Faux Leather Corset Top which is super cute. I’ve had the hardest time being able to find a corset that that fits my body and one that I don’t need to buy three times my actual size to be able to fit into. That’s a really exciting piece for me, and something I really wanted to see in the collection from the beginning. There’s a brown dress, the Hannah Maxi Dress that I’m wearing to my launch party that I love. It’s has very long, floor-grazing length, with cutouts on the side and in the back. It’s my favorite dress from the first drop.
Since you’re bringing Revolve into this new space, you’re their guinea pig, in a sense. What has your experience been like, especially attending Revolve Around the World trips, given that their image up until now has been almost exclusively geared towards a size small woman?
I’ve said this to all my followers and anyone online. Whether they agree with it or don’t, I personally am always open for change. It’s unfortunate that it’s happening so slowly and that these brands and companies are just now becoming more inclusive. But I do think it’s the little steps that matter.
I see internally, how much of an effort Revolve is making and the feedback they’re listening to. I don’t really care what they’ve done the past few years as long as they’re doing it now. If they were doing it three years from now and just waiting until they have to or until more brands do it, then no, I wouldn’t [agree to work] with a brand, then. It’s all about whether you can actually tell if they care to make these changes or not. I’ve seen from the start that they do, and I’m hoping that doesn’t just go for the clothing but also everything else they do. I think it will—and I’ve given them a lot of feedback on that too.
As your platform has grown, you’ve been open about the criticism that’s been directed towards you, especially around comments of not being at a large enough size to be representative of the plus-size community. Obviously, it’s a tricky conversation. But what would you say to some of those critics and how would you add to that conversation? How do you feel about your place in it all?
As I’ve said before, this was all an accident but I also believe everything happens for a reason. I’ve always been someone that isn’t afraid to stand up for myself and who wants to like to make a change, I just never had a platform to do so before. I feel like there’s a reason I do now.
[Having a large platform], you’re going to get people that don’t agree with you. I never thought I would get criticism from people that I feel I’m trying to support. In my mind, my goal is for everyone to feel equal and be able to walk into a store and there be all sizes available to everyone, not an extended small size section or not being able to find those clothes at all. I genuinely think we all want the same thing. I don’t believe in the, “you’re too small, you’re not big enough, you’re not small enough to be mid-size” rhetoric. I’m only trying to do good here and help as many people as I can.
People come up to me on the daily telling me that I’ve changed their lives, so I have to look at the positive and not the negative comments that I receive from people who were never were going to support me in the first place. And also I think a lot of people feel like, “Okay, well, if the brand is not going to go automatically to a 10X, then they’re not doing enough” and I personally disagree with that. I’d rather be a part of some sort of change than do nothing at all.
What message would you tell anyone who might be struggling with their self image just as a result of not being able to like see themselves represented in clothing brands or struggling with not being able to walk into just any store and find clothes that fit or that are representative of their personal style?
Honestly, following creators. I always get asked who my fashion inspiration is and I don’t really have one person, I just follow a bunch of different people that look like me who and represent my size to see what they wear. There are a lot of people who lack that confidence or feel so discouraged just by the way the fashion industry is and that’s okay, that’s normal.
It’s powerful to look at other people and realize you they can wear this or you can find this. For me, wearing a great outfit is what makes my whole mood turn around and makes me feel super confident. My whole thing is trying to make it easier for everyone else. I’m trying to find all these things that work for me to help make the shopping process easier and more fun for everyone else. It’s definitely not as easy as it should be. Being a larger body, it’s difficult. Even feeling too short or tall is a similar struggle—we all go through the same mindset—but my videos are just trying to make it a little lighter and put more humor into it to show that it’s possible to have fun, too.
Next: I Asked 4 Creators to Test-Drive Size-Inclusive Brands—They Gave These a 10/10