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Designer Christian Siriano Says He Literally Tripled His Business by Adding Plus Sizes

Christian Siriano has won huge amounts of acclaim in the past—not just for his gorgeous designs, but for his embrace of pretty much anyone who wants to wear his creations. In an industry still dominated by sample sizes (though it’s slowly getting better), Siriano puts an emphasis on being size inclusive. As Fawnia Soo Hoo wrote for Glamour in February, “He’s also managed to smash the mold of what a typical “red-carpet moment” looks like. No matter your age or body type, if Siriano likes your work, he’ll want to dress you—a strategy that’s proved successful with a broad range of celebrities and their stylists.”

He’s featured plus-size models in his fashion shows, designed a gorgeous wedding gown for a plus-size blogger, and made an incredible dress for Leslie Jones’ Ghostbusters premiere when other designers didn’t step up. At this year’s Oscars alone a staggering 17 women wore his designs.

Siriano’s efforts to be inclusive separate him from other couture designers, but as he told the executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America Fern Mallis at a recent panel at the 92nd St. Y, his personal mission and love for every single kind of woman has proven to be great for his brand. To the tune of: Dressing plus-size women has tripled—yep, tripled—his business. (Now is a good time to add that the plus-size fashion market is worth $21 billion.)

“Adding plus sizes to my line tripled my business. Why wouldn’t you do that?! Do we not want to triple the business? Do we not think these women should wear our clothes? Do we not want these women to have beautiful things because we’re afraid they’re not beautiful? What is going on here?,” the 32-year-old said at the event.

And while he acknowledged that designing beyond sample sizes involves different considerations, he also added that his brand (rightly) never charges more for larger-sized designs. After all, “You want to look cute in a dress and you’re a size 26? Why not?!”

Siriano’s business is now 50 percent plus size, he said—and his clout is leading to change within the industry. “We got Moda Operandi to change their whole website—now they go up to our sizes,” the designer said. “Knowing we have a part in change like that, it’s amazing… but it’s still crazy to me that it’s not the norm.”

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Patty Jenkins' Salary More Than Tripled for the 'Wonder Woman' Sequel

Director Patty Jenkins is having quite the year.

First, she gets immortalized as her very own Barbie doll for International Women’s Day. “I am someone who is lucky enough to make the films I want to make,” Jenkins said at the time. “But the honor of having a Barbie that looks like me and is doing what I do touches and delights the girl and child in me to the core. It celebrates all sides of me and my hopes for myself and others, in a very special way.”

Now, news is swirling about the well-deserved raise she’s receiving for her work on the Wonder Woman sequel which is due to hit theaters in 2019. A new Variety story reports that Jenkins will make $9 million for her writing and directing roles on the new film. The first Wonder Woman movie grossed over $400 million domestically and The Hollywood Reporter says that she was paid around $1 million (though there may have been additional bonuses based on the film’s success.)

Hopefully, Jenkins’ salary is the beginning of a trend of equal pay for female directors—something she has previously said she was acutely aware of during the negotiation process. ‘You’re of course aware of the money,” Jenkins told Variety last October. “But I’ve never been more aware of a duty than I was in this deal. I was extremely aware that I had to make sure I was being paid what the male equivalent would be.” She continued, “Women who have not been in a system that allows them to build up the same level of pay as men are not able to be paid the same as men forever if that’s the way it continues. You have to ask for it to happen, and you have to ask when you’re the appropriate person.”

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