Plus Size Clothing in Singapore? You Bet, and It's a Closet Raid! by Valery Amador

Plus Model Joyce for Closet Raid

It's not every day you come across a great plus size clothing source with just the right amount of girlish charm, sexy styles and a hint of sassy Singapore... Sassy what? Plus size clothing in Singapore? Who knew?!?!

Our website is one of the most important avenues to express our personality to the customers. From the color theme to the design, we try to keep it consistent to represent who we are and to show the world that we are sure of who we are. Especially in Singapore, where women used to wear men's clothes (boxy t-shirts and denim) due to lack of selection, having a boutique and eshop concept that is feminine and with personality is very important for us.

[Valery] So Pam, when and how did Closet Raid get started?

[Pam] We started in 2003. My two sisters and I started the boutique to provide chic, trendy shopping for plus size women in Singapore. My sister, Yurisa (a size 20 UK), could not find the clothes that she wanted to buy and wear when she first came back from the UK. So we decided to start our own shop to provide the kind of clothes that we want to wear, clothes that make us look good, not some frumpy men's clothes or maternity wear.

[Valery] Love that! What is the curvy market like in Singapore?

[Pam] Physically, plus size women here definitely have different body types than in the west. We tend to be shorter with less defined shoulders.

Dressing requirement: Women in Singapore tend to go to simpler, more casual style. We are slightly more conservative (show as little skin as possible), although this is changing in the younger generation. Reserved funky, reserved sexy, reserved glam kind of look.

[Valery] Can you tell us anything about the company Purple Denim?

[Pam] Purple Denim is our brainchild. After a couple of years in business, we
found that there were gaps in our collections. We couldn't find any supplier to fill this gap, so we decided to create our own in-house brand, Purple Denim. Our main theme is "Forever Summer" since Singapore is located in the tropics and that's the only season we have all year round. The direction that we took with Purple Denim is every style is designed to be worn with jeans.

[Valery] Tell us about your model search... [Pam] We occasionally launch a LookBook to provide our customers with outfit ideas. For this purpose, we'd like to have regular plus size women model the outfits, so that the majority of people can relate to them. Currently there is no plus size modeling in Singapore and the idea of beauty in Asia is definitely more narrow minded than in the west. Perhaps through this, we'd be able to revolutionize this idea. [Valery] Can you tell us how you found your gorgeous curvy model, Joyce? [Pam] It was by chance, actually. Joyce came to one of our store events and we were immediately impressed with her poise, self confidence, and sense of style. We decided then and there that she was the perfect model for our project!

I believe that the majority of our customers can easily relate to
Joyce. We were ecstatic when she agreed to model for us! Moreover, Joyce
is a great model to work with. She is fun and easy-going, and she is such
a natural model. She can successfully wear different styles; we dressed
her up in a funky "I'm a cool nerd" outfit to "I'm the Prom Queen" look.
We had loads of laugh during the photo shoot.

[Valery] Thanks Pam for sharing this curvy bit of Singapore with us!

For more information, visit Closet Raid online at www.closetraid.com or in person the next time your find yourself in Singapore!

Closet Raid
#03-08 Mandarin Hotel Shopping Arcade
333 Orchard Road
Singapore 238867
Telephone: 6887 - 5081
www.closetraid.com