Live Unlimited London, the plus size fashion expert, has launched their first ever swimwear collection – with a capsule collection of one-piece swimming costumes, tankinis, pool cover-ups and kaftans in a classic monochrome palette. Underlines spoke exclusively to Tracy Egan, Creative Director & Co-Founder of Live Unlimited, a brand for curvier women that is her passion as much as a business.
It’s not what size you wear but how you wear your size.
Tracy started her working life in the City but soon switched allegiance to fashion, joining Evans and learning all aspects of the buying and merchandising process. After a close friendship with one of the suppliers, they set up a manufacturing business in Islington in 1989 which became the backbone for launching Live Unlimited London.
“We started the brand in 2018, born out of massive frustration! I am a curvy size 16 and all of the brands I aspired to buy from just did not go up to that size, or if they did, they did not fit! With my background at Evans and with our manufacturing expertise, the obvious thing was to create our own brand and become the retail specialist in curve.”
Why swimwear now?
Our USP is in designing and producing a collection that fits and flatters a curvy silhouette and we spend hours every week perfecting the fit and seeing the collection on our different size fit models. Our customer has been asking us for swimwear for some time as she has struggled to find premium quality pieces that fit her well. It has been a long time in the design and fit process because we wanted it to be perfect. The attention to detail is key. We have engineered the ruching on the front of both the swimsuit and the tankini to be incredibly flattering for a curvier tummy, as well as adding a power mesh lining to offer more support. We’ve considered the cut throughout – from the rises to the adjustable straps we’ve used and we’ve developed a super stretchy, beautifully soft fabric to ensure maximum comfort. We are incredibly proud of this first collection, albeit small, and also all of the coordinating pieces in the range. We are excited to build on this for future seasons.
And where do you look for design inspiration?
From a LOT of places! Our design team frequently travel and European & US shopping trips are a great source of inspiration as are the catwalks, WGSN and certain influencers.
What is different about designing Live Unlimited products?
From the very beginning of the design process our focus is on the fit and making our customer feel confident in what she is wearing. Our collection runs from a size 12 to a size 28 and she needs to feel comfortable in clothes that flatter her curves which is the central part to the design. Any trend pieces need to be interpreted in this way and I do not believe there would be any other retailer who would dedicate the hours every week to perfect this aspect of the design and fit.
What are the highlights of your collection?
I think the versatility of our range is a massive highlight. A big part of our collection can be dressed up or down to suit any occasion. I am passionate about the longevity of our pieces too. I want our clothes to be the ones she pulls from her wardrobe time and time again. More than ever you need your clothes to work hard for you.
And what social media do you follow?
Again WGSN is important for trend forecasting but a whole host of fashion magazines play their part as well as keeping abreast of economic trends which can influence buying.
Describe the person who wears your designs – what is their style?
She is a curvy, confident lady who celebrates herself, and her curves, and has an appreciation of premium fabrications, beautiful print designs and who loves timeless clothes but with a contemporary feel.
A Typical Week in Your Life
Well I love the fact that there isn’t a typical week. Although every Monday always starts with receiving sales figures for the previous week. We receive a daily monetary snapshot but our full summary shows sales of every style through every channel which needs to be analysed. We are stocked in John Lewis stores and JL online, Next, Zalando, M&S as well as our own website. Pretty much every week I will be at an e-com or a location shoot or doing a viewing for a potential future shoot. I also spend time reviewing previous shoots to select the hero shots for our campaign imagery or for direct mail, as well as our shot for e-com.
I have meetings with the design team reviewing performance of current products and overseeing the development of future ranges and planning the overall look we want for the next season. I also meet with our marketing team to discuss future ad campaigns, home pages, etc. I review and am involved in the e-mail messages that go out to our customers and I’m trying very hard to do some more Instagram Live!
Your proudest moment to date?
I have a lot of proud moments but launching in M&S this Spring has to be one of them for very personal reasons. My mum passed away in 2000 but it was her absolute favourite and I know she would have been so proud of me!
Your next big challenge?
We are launching a range of petite fitting clothes in Autumn for all our lovely customers who have been requesting shorter lengths and we are currently working on an international launch – watch this space!
Your worst move?
We should have been less cautious and launched the brand earlier.
What do you hope to achieve?
We want to be known as the go-to destination and industry specialist in curve and want to make women of all sizes feel confident in our clothes and be the absolute best version of themselves. We have been blown away by the sheer number of lovely ladies who have taken the time to write and tell us how happy they are to have our brand. It’s not what size you wear but how you wear your size.
And time out?
I live in North London with a wonderful partner and two amazing sons, who in spite of being 17 and 20 still manage to keep me busy, but are great company and very funny: there is always lots of laughter in my house so I really don’t mind!
My other passions are cooking as I love to entertain (and to eat out!) and travel but I guess music is the big love of my life – from a kitchen disco to a festival – I love it all.
