With stylish, perfectly fitted garments, DEWEY – an inclusive fashion brand for people five feet and under – is changing the game for extra petite people. We spoke to founder Chamiah Dewey and supporter, model, and investor in the brand Ellie Simmonds, to discover how DEWEY is filling a gap in the fashion industry by offering comfort, confidence, and sustainability
You wouldn’t expect a British Paralympian who has an OBE, endless gold medals, and a distinguished broadcasting career to need to ask her mum to alter her clothes. But that’s what Ellie Simmonds has been doing for years. Even her Team GB kit didn’t fit. Like thousands of people under five feet tall, Ellie has struggled to buy well-fitting clothes. But that’s all changing, with the launch of DEWEY, a brand devised by inclusive fashion designer Chamiah Dewey.
Ellie and Chamiah first met at Little People UK events, and Ellie has supported Chamiah’s career as a friend, but also as a model for and investor in DEWEY, which recently launched in-store in Selfridges, and online at deweyclothing.com.
“DEWEY is great,” explains Ellie. “For someone like me, I can’t just pick stuff off the shelf. But this jacket and these joggers I’ve got on right now, I’ve not had to alter them at all. It’s so needed.” DEWEY’s first range features women’s athleisure wear and had to be restocked within days of first appearing in Selfridges in September.
FEELING REALLY GOOD
Why focus on sportswear for the brand’s first collection? “I live in athletics wear,” Ellie admits. “Yes, I’m an athlete but, since COVID and with more people working from home, we all love being in our comfies, and also looking good in the gym as well as feeling good.”
“The idea is to be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible within that five-foot and under demographic,” reveals Chamiah. The brand is expanding – DEWEY will soon launch a mainline women’s collection along with a men’s range. The pair explain that the main things people want are trousers that don’t need to be taken up, knitwear that fits, and outerwear that doesn’t need to be altered. An innovative but simple sizing solution, including leg inseam lengths of 25” and 18”, makes the range inclusive for one in ten adults in the UK and US who measure five feet and under.
Source: Enable Magazine
