One Fit hire owner paving the way for plus size fashion

Lerm says these types of businesses are important because we’re not all built the same, their inclusive range has provided a platform to remind women that “we all deserve to feel good about ourselves and have confidence with whatever body we’re in”.

Kahu made the move from Wellington to Auckland before her business started up, and says that access to great quality garments for women may be much harder in other places around New Zealand, especially rural areas.

Tiana Foua, a customer and owner of her own online plus-size rental clothing business Curvy Girl Hire, says that where she’s from in Lake Taupō, there are not many stores that cater to bigger women.

“I always got anxiety going into a shop looking for something to try on just to walk out with nothing because I couldn’t fit it. It shouldn’t have to be a struggle to hire dresses as a plus-size woman, we need more shops that do what One Fit Hire and myself do, we need to be catering to all shapes and sizes”.

With OFH’s Instagram filled with photos of customers looking ecstatic in their hired outfits, Angel says that it makes a huge difference for people to see the dresses on a real body instead of a professional model.

Kahu says that social media can have a huge effect on people’s mental health and has the ability to change people’s perspective on themselves. She tries to incorporate a lot of body positivity and self-love messaging on the company’s social media pages because of it.

When asked what change the country needs to make to see the impact that she’s creating, Kahu says that retail stores need to be more accessible, not just online and they need to offer dresses that have the capacity to fit a range of sizes, not just one. They need to be more affordable and offer good quality options in terms of styles and colours.

“I believe fashion is a true expression of yourself, what you stand for and how you’re feeling and like, if people aren’t getting that then that sort of translates to self-confidence, then your mental wellbeing, and it all just comes back to mental health again, you know?”.