Viva Voce Gives New Voice To Large Size Women

The home page of the VIVA VOCE web site, a new concept where large size women can be heard.

COURTESY OF VIVA VOCE

Kate Zigrang had trouble finding clothing as a child and young adult. Zingrang, who is 6’1″ and said she weighs about 330 pounds, was always relegated to the back of the store or a dark second floor of a retailer where a haphazard array of styles could be found displayed without rhyme or reason. It was clearly an afterthought on the part of the retailer, who may have thought, along the lines of “beggars can’t be choosers.” It was fat-shaming in full force.

But Zigrang wouldn’t let someone else decide how she felt about her own body. To wit, Viva Voce. The new retailer for large size women on October 16 opened a 2,500-square-foot pop-up shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at 276 Bedford Avenue. The shop has an equal amount of space for inventory, Zigrang said, noting that the pop-up will operate through February. Then, Zigrang hopes to “show up” in another U.S. city.

Retailers and brands are starting to focus on plus-size consumers. The cynical reason is the demographic’s spending power. Sixty-seven percent of American women are considered plus size – size 14 and above – and the number of teen girls buying large size clothing is trending upward. According to Grand View Research, the size of the women’s plus-size market globally was around $323 billion in 2024 and it’s projected to reach over $412 billion by 2030 with an Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 4.1%.

The Viva Voce pop-up is an open, welcoming environment where women and teens can browse at their leisure. Nancy Youssef, chief business development officer of Viva Voce, is always on hand to help put together outfits from separates mainly sourced from local independent designers who are large-size themselves and lived first-hand through the experience of a dearth of suitable clothing. Brands include Tamara Malas and Rene Cafaro, two homegrown New York labels, for example.

“Fat bodies are so often hidden, told to shrink and pushed out of public spaces,” the Viva Voce Facebook page said. “But we’re not shrinking for anyone! We’re taking up space. Loudly. Softly. Fully. Together.”

The web site encourages consumers to “spot our wild postings around Brooklyn and snap a selfie with our beautiful models and shop the looks we’re wearing at our New York pop-up or our online marketplace.

“Viva Voce is for every body and every voice that’s been told to quiet down, shrink back, or blend in,” the web site continued. “For anyone who’s walked into a store and felt erased. For every person of every size, shape, and style choice that’s been excluded, overlooked, or underrepresented, we refuse to be silent. We refuse to shrink. We refuse to be measured by conventional standards. We refuse to let the fashion industry decide who gets to be seen, heard, or celebrated.”

In honor of the pop-up’s opening, Zigrang on October 16 hosted a panel discussion with Cafaro, founder of Renee Cafaro Atelier; Naomi Hearts and Angel Edme, influencers; Malas, founder of Tamara Malas; Michaela Leitz, Viva Voce’s head of community; Lauren Hope Krass and Essie Golden, influencers, and Viva Voce brand partners and special guests.

“They have really valuable insights from their own journeys in an industry that didn’t welcome them,” Zingrang said of Cafaro and Malas. “We also had two wonderful influencers on the panel who have a big voice in that fashion space showing people that at any size you can fit in and take up that space.

“We all connected over the experience of not being able to find clothes that fit well and being excluded by retailers and the fashion world at large and kind of where we want to see the fashion industry go toward inclusivity as well as ethics, sustainability and how we want to be part of that change,” Zingrang added.

Viva Voce consumers, who refuse to be silent and refuse to shrink, are making their own made-to-measure clothing [the fashion industry’s term for custom-made styles] by themselves, for themselves. “Yes, our goal is for everyone to feel like they can belong,” Zingrang said, noting that she was calling from South Africa. Asked if she’s traveling around the world looking for up and coming designers who cater to large size women, Zingrang said, “I do get to travel a little bit. I’m currently based in Hawaii most of the time now though.

“As a larger teenager I often felt excluded,” Zingrang said. “Belonging is a big part of our mission. We are looking to hopefully continue growing the designers and brands we partner with and to continue to add more so we become part of this hub for people to find ethical sustainable fashion.”

Youssef herself is founder and president of the startup Curves with Purpose, a women’s size-inclusive e-commerce platform that uses sophisticated digital measurements to help women navigate through the muddy waters of sizing across brands. Indeed, the discrepancy in sizing standards from brand to brand has added to the confusion and frustration for plus-size customers worldwide, Zingrang said.

Tau Investment, a firm with offices in New York and Hong Kong, and deep expertise in the global apparel industry, has recognized the potential of Viva Voce’s concept and is supporting the project, Zingrang said. “Tau has experience in supply chain and sustainable fashion technology,” she said. “They’re the perfect partner for me. [Oliver Neidermaier, chairman and CEO of Tau] was able to pull in a lot of experience both in the back end and marketing, while I brought the passion and drive and entrepreneurism.”

The name of the brand itself comes from the Latin, which means “With Living Voice,” Zingrang said. “It’s all about our desire for everyone to feel heard, valued and have a voice in the fashion space. It can also mean ‘by a voice vote.’ It’s our goal to bring everyone together to make a change in the fashion industry so there’s more inclusivity.”

“It’s definitely an underserved market,” Ben Kruger, chief marketing officer at Event Tickets Center, said. “Plus-size women make up a really large percentage of the U.S. population. It’s this very lopsided sort of market and I know it’s been very tough for women to find clothes in stores and even online.

“There’s a huge opportunity for lifetime value. If anyone finds a brand and sizing they like they’re obviously going to be much more likely to buy from that brand, so it definitely has the potential to work,” he said about the concept and web site. “And also, it’s a really big community and serves a really large chunk of the population that’s not being served right now. I think the web site looks great. They have a good story and the model shots look more authentic than most e-commerce shots, which is nice.”

Consumers are building their closets as they’re potentially building lasting friendships by trading clothing and personal stories with one another. This also addresses the circularity issue. “I’m looking now at the web site right now. The community is all baked right into the web site whereas it’s usually just on Facebook,” Kruger said. “I haven’t seen this before. It’s pretty cool.”