We recently had the opportunity to celebrate with new plus-size retailer Insyze and the addition of Gia/irl to our featured brands. I had to share and recap this event.
For those of you who don’t know, Insyze is your one stop shop for all things plus size clothing.Featuring sizes 12-40, Insyze focuses on the first video experience Where customers share video reviews A list of items that show the actual look and feel. Cash incentives are also offered when customers share videos and honest feedback.
“Community is at the heart of Insyze because we can all lift, support and inspire each other.”
Sylvie Wilson, Insyze co-founder
Last week they hosted Gia/irl at Insyze for an intimate brunch and bubble event.If there’s a dress to look out for this summer, it’s definitely it. GIA/irl. Gia creates fun, sexy and elegant outfits with cutouts in all the right places in the most gorgeous colors to make you “pop” for any occasion.
GIA/irl was founded by Zia Sinatra in Spring 2022. She is currently launching her brand on the Insyze marketplace.
GIA/irl is “An authentic and personal perspective on making plus size women look chic and sexy.”
The brand was founded to honor indie plus-size brands, just like GIA/irl. Founded by sisters Sylvie and Danielle, they strive to put community at the forefront of their brand. Sylvie’s husband, James, also helped design the website, emphasizing a family-first approach.
One of the challenges Insyze faces is finding great brands to design stylish clothing for plus sizes. Luckily, they’ve partnered with her 50 brands and met some great designers along the way.
They shared heartwarming stories about how and why they felt the need for Insyze. Here is their story in Sylvie’s words:
The beginning of Insyze
“I want to go back to the origins…why did we start and how did we get here?
Daniel and I are sisters. We are from England and had a pretty normal childhood until one day in 1998 everything changed. Daniel had been unwell for about a year, and doctors were unable to determine the cause, but he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
At first, the doctors didn’t understand what was wrong and advised my mother to stop eating chocolate.
Thankfully Daniel is still with us. Although she underwent her life-saving surgery and treatments and was able to keep her cancer at bay, she also had some side effects that lasted her life, one of which was her weight gain.
Daniel has always been plus size and has struggled with body confidence.
When we went shopping together when we were teenagers, nothing fit Daniel’s size, so Daniel asked me to try on whatever I liked to feel part of the fashion experience. I asked
For me, it was unacceptable to see my sister feeling bad about herself or feeling alienated. I thought I would do something about it.
So we originally started Insyze as a blog and community page. An inspirational site where you can discover which brands have plus sizes or see other brands with unreal looks for all body types and sizes.
Going forward, we are now a plus size fashion marketplace and we are really proud of what we have built so far. We are a self-started company and the only outside funding we receive is from family and friends. ”
The brunch was full of fashion talk, celebratory toasts, laughter and delicious treats.
Sylvie and Daniel mentioned how difficult it is for female founders to secure funding, using phrases such as: “a self-started company” We all agreed that we should coin our own terminology for female founders.
“I pulled myself up with my bra straps!”
Shop plus size fashion now. Insyze.com
And as plus-size women, we know that bra straps have to struggle a lot more than boot straps.
Have you heard of Incise? Have you had a chance to shop from them? Let us know your experience in the comments section below.