Lucy Bramley is the founder of Ruched & Ready, a leading inclusive fashion brand helping women embrace their curves and feel confident.
Meeting the demands of an underserved corner of the fashion industry Ruched & Ready has developed a cult following since launching in 2019 providing figure hugging dresses and control wear designed to flatter women and enhance curves. In the first year of trading the brand turned over six figures, it has since grown on average 178% year on year. For the year end 2023 the brand is on track to surpass £750k in turnover. Selling an impressive 10,000 pieces this year, Ruched & Ready retails exclusively online and has gained celebrity fans such as TV presenter Maya Jama, Samantha Faiers and actor and comedian Emily Atack, all wearing pieces from its coveted collection.
Lucy wearing a classic Ruched & Ready design
A lover of fashion and a plus size woman herself Lucy started Ruched & Ready after years of struggling with the poor offering for curve women in the fashion industry. With her size fluctuating from a UK size 16 to a 20 over the years Lucy was consistently disappointed with plus size ranges available.
Lucy says, “Before Ruched & Ready there didn’t appear to be any brands that were designing collections with plus size women in mind, particularly in partywear. All I could find were plus size clothes which seemed like an extension of the main brand with little thought about how those pieces would fit and look on a curvier woman.”
“It felt as though brands were providing plus size to tick a box but not serving the women they were trying to sell to” she adds.
Struggles included collections that were either too short, poor quality and cut and often only single lined which was unflattering against cellulite, lumps & bumps. At times Lucy would buy two of the exact same dress from brands because the length was too short and have a seamstress add length by cutting up and using the other dress, adding the length she wanted and classed as a ‘mini’ dress, but for her size & body shape. Lucy soon realised that it was clear brands were not grading their clothing by considering a curve girl in mind.
With a busy social life Lucy loved getting dressed up and styling herself but she grew more and more frustrated about the lack of choice for plus size women who wanted to feel fashionable, sexy and confident.
Previous to launching Ruched & Ready Lucy already headed up her own fashion label alongside her full time job working for Very.co.uk (Shop Direct Group) in Fashion Marketing. Desperate to see her vision take off and fill the gap in the plus size market she decided to exit her previous brand and Shop Direct in 2019. With over 8 years of fashion industry experience behind her Lucy set out to create Ruched & Ready a fashion label bringing must-have dress collections designed with a curve girl in mind. With a mission to develop styles which would look incredible on all body shapes and sizes, Lucy launched the brand with a size range from UK 8-20 with a vision of including more sizes as the business scales.
Created to flatter, hug curves and ruche in the right places the range includes double lined super soft stretch fabrics across maxi dresses, waist cinching co-ords and pieces with drawstrings for an adjustable length in both timeless colours, eye-popping bright shades and exclusive prints. Every piece is designed by Lucy and every sample is fitted on herself to ensure every aspect is perfect for a plus size woman.
Now in their fourth year, the brand has earned cult status amongst fashion fans and a thriving community on social media, sell out collections and multiple repeat customers.
Lucy says, “I feel for a long time plus size women like myself have been ignored by the fashion industry and our needs not taken seriously. I’m passionate about making the fashion industry more inclusive and helping women of all shapes and sizes feel confident and sexy wearing our designs, the fit is the most important part for me”
Lucy continues, “I set out to create styles that I have worn myself for years but with tweaks to make them perfect. Whether they are a size 8 or size 20 the reaction to Ruched & Ready has been incredible. I get a lot of satisfaction seeing how confident our customers are wearing our designs and I’m so happy to have a dedicated community of gorgeous women that love the brand as much as I do.”
Following on from the success of the brand’s dress collection Ruched & Ready will expand its range into ‘Basics’ in sizes 8-20 in September 2023. With a desire to improve the casual offering for curvy women, the essential collection will include figure hugging, comfortable control wear leggings, T-shirts, long sleeve tops, bodysuits and co-ords that focus on contouring the body.
https://www.ruchedandready.co.uk/
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