For casual times, a
comfortable combo is jeans
and a colorfully striped top,
from Lane Bryant.

Below: Printed douppoini
silk ensemble includes a
jacket, blouse and skirt.

A M PLE 1M AG E

DESIGNERS AND
MANUFACTURERS ARE
PAYING ATTENTION TO
LARGE SIZE WOMEN.
THE RESULTS ARE
GLAMOROUS NEW
CHOICES FOR CAREER
AND EVENING
DRESSBG.

BY R.S. SPENCER

70 I N STYLE

I arge size women. They
have become the hot-
test topic in the fashion
j industry. According to
The National Retail Merchants
Association's vice president of
merchandising, Joseph Siegal,
26 million women in this coun-
try wear a size 16 or larger.
With those numbers, many
designers and manufacturers
have awoken to the cries of
large size women for
fashionable clothes.
Oleg Cassini took the plunge
with the introduction of a spring
line. Claire Pasterick, president
of the large size division, says,
"The customer is getting what
she wants, which is the same
styling and clothes as the missy
customer. The customer is ask-
ing for better merchandise,

quality and style and she
doesn't care about the price."
Givenchy En Plus and Albert
Nipon have also made inroads
in this market. Helen Genute,
head of public relations at
Givenchy, says, "We get our
design direction from Paris for
color, fabric and silhouettes.
Now, the large size woman is
no longer two years behind her
missy counterpart." This season,
Givenchy shows trapeze-shaped
tops with shorter, slimmer skirts,
in both navy and white and in
sand tones.
Jacqueleine Van Cise,
account executive for the large
size division of Albert Nipon, in
operation since 1985, agrees
that nautical colors and tunic
tops over slim skirts are hot this
spring. "The designer name