Full Figured Fashion Week is back — and it has grown a few sizes.
The Big Apple’s third annual event for plus-size women’s clothing kicked off yesterday and is set to draw more than 1,000 visitors this year.
“We’ve tripled in size since two years ago,” organizer Gwen DeVoe told The Post. “It shows us that demand for high-quality fashions for women with curves simply isn’t being met.”
Tickets to sample sales and shopping crawls this week are already sold out, as are a string of runway shows slated for Saturday at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
At Saturday’s event, 15 designers from US, Europe and Canada will show their wares on the catwalk.
Toronto-based Ashaki Charles Designs will display a dozen outfits, including dresses, jumpsuits and club gear on models whose sizes range from 14 to 22, said designers Julie Thomson and Tene Charles.
“Women of all sizes love fashion, period,” Thomson said, noting that her designs are available in sizes ranging from 2 to 32. “They all want to be stylish, but unfortunately a lot of designers won’t cross the line into plus sizes.”
Indeed, there are no significant differences in the fashion trends that govern plus-size clothing and those found on the runways at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, said Robert Rutkauskas, director of trend and color at Lane Bryant, a retail sector leader that’s sponsoring the event.
“We’re addressing a new silhouette in pants — flare legs, wider legs,” Rutkauskas said. “Leopard and other animal prints also continue to be big.”
Likewise, sometimes it’s OK to flout some rules — including the one about horizontal stripes piling on the pounds, according to LaTresa Harper and Danyelle Freeland of La’Dan’s Closet, an East Orange, NJ-based label.
“Just do it,” Freeland said. “If you’re 300 pounds, what’s the big deal about looking like you’re 305?”james.covert@nypost.com