Rakhee Chopra

After moving to Canada from my birthplace in India in 2000, I worked at Pennington’s for two years. I had been making my own clothes for 15 years and was keenly interested in learning more about how wearing properly fitting clothes can make women feel more beautiful and confident.

I had an epiphany one day while working at Pennington’s, and I decided to evolve from only making my own clothes to designing for plus-size women. While working at Pennington’s one day, an older woman, who some might describe as frumpy looking, came into the store. Other clerks ignored her but after chatting with her and making her feel comfortable, she and I worked together to find several great outfits for her upcoming trip to Paris, France. “This first time anybody has treated me well in a store and the first time I feel great in clothes,” was her delighted comment.

That experience solidified my feeling that I must design clothes that accentuate a woman’s curves and help camouflage the parts she doesn’t like. Looking great also makes you feel great and that kind of confidence builds on itself. It can help you reach a place where you attain emotional wellness and you find self-acceptance. That is absolutely the best part of what I do.

This is a journey I’ve been on since the age of 12 when I realized that I was overweight. Standing in a train station in India with my mom and siblings, mom weighed me on one of the paid scales there. Weighing in at 73 kilograms at age 12 and hearing my sister say that the weight of my breasts was going to cause me to fall on my face made me feel ugly and unaccepted.

This was a message I heard over and over as I a teen and later as a young woman. Boyfriends through my teens and later my former wife all made it clear that their love was conditional on my weight.

Having lost over 100 pounds and still not having my wife love me, I realize that I needed to love myself before anyone else could.

I started my own journey toward self-acceptance. It’s taken years for my appearance outside to reflect my feelings inside.

I’ve made it my personal mission to help others on this journey to self-acceptance by designing fabulous garments that accentuate their curves and minimize any areas that make them self-conscious.

Using fabric as my medium and female bodies as my canvas, I create art that help defines confidence for women in both my ready-to-wear seasonal lines and custom-made clothing.

Join me on the journey and discover how much you love your curves!