British-Canadian fashion designer Edeline Lee, whose clients include the Princess of Wales, has launched a powerful critique against the fashion industry's approach to sizing and body image, labelling the standard five-size system as "complete bull****".
The Intimate Reality of Fittings
From her East London studio in Dalston, Lee operates differently from many high-end designers. Her clients, who include powerful women from cultural institution leaders to corporate figures and royalty, often undress down to their undergarments during fittings. "If you get naked with someone, basically it's a very intimate experience... you end up having these conversations," Lee revealed.
These discussions expose the private fears and body insecurities women confront daily. Lee, a Central Saint Martins graduate from 2008, witnesses how the current system makes numerous women feel their bodies are somehow flawed. "That kind of mass idea that we're all supposed to fit into something, it doesn't help with insecurities, does it? If you don't fit into those five sizes, you feel like somehow, something's wrong with yourself," she explained.
A Systemic Problem, Not a Designer Choice
Lee is quick to clarify that the issue is not that the industry exclusively believes in "skinny teenagers". Instead, she points to a logistical system that has remained largely unchanged for decades, particularly regarding sample sizing during Fashion Week.
"When you have Fashion Week and you have 15 designers showing on one day... it becomes easier if they're all one size... the second you add diversity and sizing... it just amplifies [difficulty and cost] so quickly," she said. While acknowledging that it's currently impossible for businesses to offer 50 different sizes without going bankrupt, Lee maintains that systemic change is both achievable and beneficial.
She argues that altering the industry's standard sizing would actually simplify production. "It would actually be easier for all of us... it's much easier to grade up and down from the middle rather than to grade from the bottom all the way up," Lee explained. Her own label, which is produced exclusively within the UK, offers a size range from 2 to 24.
Beyond Fashion: Women and Power
Lee's commitment to empowering women extends far beyond her design studio. A transformative moment came in 2018 after reading classicist Mary Beard's book Women And Power, which revealed the deep roots of misogyny.
This inspired Lee to launch her 'Women And Power' speaker series, asking: "I'm always talking about dressing powerful women, and yet everything we do is shown on young, silent women... why not put the voice of women on the fashion stage?"
The series has since featured 35 female speakers from politics, science, music, and literature, including recent conversations with Lisa Armstrong and Sharon Horgan. For Lee, whose role she sees as creating clothes that make women "feel strong and powerful," this fusion of fashion and female voice represents the future of an industry desperately in need of change.
