--- title: Target Launching Plus-Size Fashion Line Ava & Viv description: On Wednesday Target announced Ava & Viv, a new fashion brand designed specifically for "the plus-size woman who loves fashion." canonical: https://time.com/3677316/target-plus-size-fashion-line-ava-viv/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T22:58:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:16:09.507Z og:title: Target Is Launching a Plus-Size Fashion Line Women Actually Might Want to Wear og:description: "It's good to know that a brand is listening" og:url: https://time.com/3677316/target-plus-size-fashion-line-ava-viv/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b58cd2be887125f/69877b29524fc04fa5dec0ca/screen-shot-2015-01-21-at-5-02-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2015-01-21 at 5.02.47 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Target Is Launching a Plus-Size Fashion Line Women Actually Might Want to Wear twitter:description: "It's good to know that a brand is listening" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b58cd2be887125f/69877b29524fc04fa5dec0ca/screen-shot-2015-01-21-at-5-02-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Target Is Launching a Plus-Size Fashion Line Women Actually Might Want to Wear by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jan 21, 2015 10:58 PM CUT  by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jan 21, 2015 10:58 PM CUT In August, blogger Chastity Garner wrote a [compelling takedown of Target](http://garnerstyle.blogspot.com/2014/08/im-boycotting-target-altuzarra-for-target.html "undefined") — announcing her decision to boycott the retailer for failing to offer its popular designer collections in plus sizes. That boycott is coming to an end. On Wednesday Target [announced](http://www.abullseyeview.com/2015/01/new-target-plus-line-ava-viv/ "undefined") Ava & Viv, a new fashion brand designed specifically for “the plus-size woman who loves fashion.” The line, designed by Target’s in-house team, offers clothing in sizes 14W to 26W and X to 4X and will be available online and in stores come mid-February. The retailer invited Garner and two other plus-size bloggers to its Minnesota headquarters to sample the line. “It looks beautiful on my body type and my shape,” Garner says in a video chronicling their visit. In spite of its far from perfect relationship with plus-size fashion — Target’s site [displayed plus-size offerings on maternity models](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/target-plus-size-pregnant%5Fn%5F4548379.html "undefined") _and_ described a [plus-size dress as “manatee gray”](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/target-plus-size-pregnant%5Fn%5F4548379.html "undefined") (the “normal” dress was “dark heather gray”) — its strategy thus far with the Ava & Viv line could actually teach other retailers about how to better approach selling plus-sized clothing. First of all, Target is emphasizing that the clothing line will make trendy design choices a priority. “This guest is really a fashion-forward woman who happens to be a plus size,” merchandising SVP Stacia Andersen told [_Women’s Wear Daily_](http://www.wwd.com/retail-news/mass-off-price/target-launches-ava-viv-plus-size-line-8126857 "undefined"). “When we put out pieces that stand out a little more, items that are more chic, more trend-driven and more statement in nature, they tended to perform.” Even though though the plus-size demographic makes up 37% of U.S. consumers, it only makes up 15% of the clothing industry’s sales because most labels don’t design for the lucrative market, _Fast Company_ [reports](http://www.fastcodesign.com/3041214/fast-feed/target-launches-new-plus-size-clothing-line "undefined"). And when they do design plus-size clothing, the available styles are rarely fashion forward. “I am horrified by some of the clothes I find in the stores,” stylist Sal Perez explained told [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/fashion/plus-size-fashion-moves-beyond-the-muumuu.html "undefined")when explaining her difficulties in trying to dress Rebel Wilson for her role in _Pitch Perfect 2_. “I don’t know anyone who enjoys wearing polyester.” Actress Melissa McCarthy decided to [launch](http://www.wwd.com/markets-news/ready-to-wear-sportswear/mccarthy-sunrise-team-for-fashion-line-8044208?navSection=issues "undefined") a fashion label after interacting with [six different designers who wouldn’t dress her for the Oscars](http://time.com/2827773/melissa-mccarthy-started-a-plus-size-clothing-line-because-nobody-would-dress-her-for-the-oscars/ "undefined"). Target is also selling the clothing at a reasonable price point, between $10 and $79.99\. This is a striking contrast to stores like Old Navy, who recently came [under fire](http://time.com/3580891/old-navy-women-plus-size-price/ "undefined") for charging more for plus-size items. _Marie Claire_ contributing editor and plus-size blogger Nicolette Mason joined Garner to sample the line and also shared her thoughts in Target’s video. “It’s good to know that a brand is listening,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3677316/target-plus-size-fashion-line-ava-viv/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3677316/target-plus-size-fashion-line-ava-viv/"},"headline":"Target Is Launching a Plus-Size Fashion Line Women Actually Might Want to Wear","datePublished":"2015-01-21T22:58:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:16:09.507Z","description":"\"It's good to know that a brand is listening\"","url":"https://time.com/3677316/target-plus-size-fashion-line-ava-viv/","keywords":["Living","Newsfeed","Retail","Target","Body Image","fashion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b58cd2be887125f/69877b29524fc04fa5dec0ca/screen-shot-2015-01-21-at-5-02-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b58cd2be887125f/69877b29524fc04fa5dec0ca/screen-shot-2015-01-21-at-5-02-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2015-01-21 at 5.02.47 PM","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3677316/target-plus-size-fashion-line-ava-viv/","name":"Target Is Launching a Plus-Size Fashion Line Women Actually Might Want to Wear"}}]}] ```