We chatted with Sassii from Zest Lifewear:

Tell us about Zest Lifewear:

Zest Lifewear is making waves in the plus size fashion industry by doing something new – we have designed our own range of badass active streetwear in sizes 14 to 36. Every piece is designed for curves, made from high-quality fabrics, under $80, and most importantly – never boring!

Curvy babes can wear our pieces anywhere from the gym, to go shopping, or coffee with the girls. We showcase plus-size models who are strong, beautiful and powerful.

What motivated you to sell activewear?

I have some really strong, gorgeous friends who could not find plus size activewear that wasn’t boring, dorky, or expensive, and it was making them feel pretty low. I couldn’t sit back and watch my plus size friends be ignored by the activewear fashion labels any longer, so I just had to take action.

If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself. So I did! Everyone deserves to feel beautiful, valued and empowered, which is why I am designing activewear for curvy babes with attitude.

What’s been the highlight of your career so far?

One highlight for me was when Tess Holliday liked one of our Instagram posts – if anyone’s not familiar with Tess, she is a plus size supermodel in the USA who has over 1.7M followers and has inspired thousands of women to love their bodies. And she knows we exist – I was so excited!

What do you love most about what you do?

The best part about what I do is when women send me messages saying we inspired them to stop hating themselves and learn to love their curves and feel good about themselves, that to me is worth more than anything. We don’t promote weight loss or dieting, and we think that if you want to do any exercise just do it for fun because you enjoy the activity!

What’s your favourite exercise?

My favourite exercise is dancing, and I am not exactly a good dancer. I dance around to my favourite upbeat songs and throw in a few star jumps here and there, maybe pretend I’m Rocky Balboa or the chick off Flashdance. It’s fun to do and I always feel way more positive afterwards, it helps when you’re having a bad day.

Do you have any predictions for the plus-size fashion industry?

I think we are going to start seeing more brands showcasing plus size models for both men’s and women’s fashion. If anyone out there is considering becoming a plus size model, go for it, it’s your time to shine!

Have you seen attitudes change towards plus-size people?

When it comes to the fashion industry, there are a lot of brands that are now starting to include some plus sizes, but high fashion runways still need to make some more progress. When it comes to society in general, for example in the workplace, in families, and out in public – there is still a bit of work to be done.
I encourage everyone to call out plus size shaming when it happens in your everyday life if you hear someone making mean jokes about a plus size person, say “hey, that’s not cool”, or if you hear someone putting themselves down because of their size, lift them up.

Who is your favourite plus-size models or actresses?

Oh there are so many! My favourite actress would have to be Melissa McCarthy, I love all her movies, she always makes me laugh and brightens my day.

My favourite plus size models are the just the most beautiful and powerful babes ever – Tess Holliday and Ashley Graham.

Who or what inspires you?

Making other women feel better about themselves is what inspires me to keep on going, I’m bringing back the sisterhood and I want to encourage everyone to do less judging and criticising, and more supporting and loving! The world could certainly use that. If we all do it, it will spread like a wildfire and maybe we could even make the world a better place. That’s my crazy hope anyway!

Do you have any plans for the future?

In the future, I plan to bring out some amazing printed leggings in totally unique designs for all my curvy babes. And, I want to spread the message out there that plus size babes can do anything!

I’ve got a special treat for your readers, a discount code for 15% off your purchase when you enter the code: BRISBANISTA at www.zestlifewear.com and bonus – we offer free shipping!

About Zest Lifewear

Head over to the Zest Lifewear website to view the range and purchase.