Creating designer dresses for everyday women

There have been plenty of times when regular women sitting in front of the television sets have seen a gorgeous dress being worn by some celebrity and wondered if they could wear it.

Afamado, the brainchild of Stuti and Harsh Modi does just that -- They bring plus size trendy boutique dresses  right at the doorstep of everyday women.

An online store, Afamado is a clothing brand celebrating international fashion that specialises in creating designer wear for plus-sized women.

In conversation, founders Harsh and Stuti Modi share the story behind creating Afamado and their vision for the brand.

Speaking about what got them interesting in creating Afamado, Stuti says, “Afamado is not just about plus size - its fashion for all sizes.”

She goes on to add that Afamado started with a simple shopping trip.

 “As we shopped with friends and family for two hours, what should have been simple pleasure turned into frustration and disappointment as we realized not everyone was finding things,” Stuti elaborates.

Harsh goes on to explain that a close friend who happens to be a size XL wasn’t even able to try anything trendy on let alone buy something.

 “It was an eye opening experience,” he says, adding, “It showed us a massive gap in the market for plus size dresses. From that experience, the Afamado was born.”

Stuti quips, “We stand for truth in sizing so you pick the right thing for your body type. A major part of that process is custom tailoring each piece to fit you perfectly. Every woman is uniquely and beautifully different and that is the truth!”

Both Harsh and Stuti describe Afamado to be a brand that recognises beauty in diversity.

 “Fashion is not size bound,” Harsh says, adding, “We cater to all sizes and not just cookie cutter standards. We offer women a chance to turn fashion around to suit them, choose a dress that is made to their size.”

Elaborating upon the name Afamado, Stuti says that they picked the name Afamado because both of them believe that every woman should own her truth and feel beautiful and graceful in what she wears.

 “Afamado means celebrity in Spanish. Every woman should feel special, like a celebrity. It shouldn’t matter if you are a size S or a size 6X, clothing should make you feel sexy, confident, fun, flirty, and any other bevy of exciting emotions that bring out the simple joys of life,” she explains.

For Afamado, their clientele are mostly young, confident, independent women who value freedom and express it through fashion.

But why only women? Stuti explains, “Personally I find women's fashion much more exciting, and have been designing for women all my life. We may add a collection for men later as we have received a few requests but nothing in the pipeline as of now.”

Harsh adds that customers have responded warmly to what the online store is offering. He goes on to add that Afamado gets mails from women across the world thanking and appreciating that the brand makes fun clothes for women of all sizes.

Both Harsh and Stuti expand that Afamado is not jut for plus sized-women, but that has been one clientele from whom the response has been overwhelming.

The business partners who say that they do not have one single mantra for success say that very soon the online store will add new categories like swim wear, tunics and accessories as well.

 “We will be going live with Myntra and Amazon by the end of the month as well,” Stuti concludes.