Skip to main contentThe sensible yet colorless Lane Bryant. The blandly appalling Avenue. Those loathsome boutiques with names like "Big Ideas" and "More to Love." Honestly, do Garment District fat cats think all big girls are bank tellers? The lack of kickin' clothes for larger ladies was a baffling retail oversight no one dared address--until now.
Welcome, Torrid.
Torrid is the saucy, supersized sister of Hot Topic. A City of Industry, Calif.-based retailer (Nasdaq: HOTT), it has peppered America's malls with 300-plus retail locations hawking iconic rocker threads: pleather pencil minis, bell-sleeved spooky-girl dresses, grommeted lace-up tops, beetle-browed Emily T-shirts. Now picture those same schmattas, not in shrinky-dink sizes, but full-blown in sizes 14 to 26 to fit the curves and keisters of a real woman (FYI: Average female size in America is between a 12 and a 14). This blend of generous sizing and rock-hard styling is Torrid's allure, and it's been wearing away the magnetic strip on many a Portlander's credit card since a store opened at Lloyd Center (the only one in the Pacific Northwest) six weeks ago.
"This is a niche market no one has touched yet," enthuses Alicia Rose, a SoCal native/Portland transplant known by the nom de rock Miss Murgatroid. Rose is a legendary accordionista and self-proclaimed Torrid fanatic. "I walked in two weeks ago and it was like the gates of Heaven had opened and God was beaming down his goth glory."
"Goth" (gloomy, spiderwebby, eyeliner-y) is good shorthand for Torrid's inventory, but the store covers the waterfront for most old-school alterna-looks. Torrid's product mix is divided into streetwear, clubwear, rockabilly and renaissance. There's the black rockabilly dress for swing dancing (a classic ballerina cut with an underlayer of transparent tulle), the tomboyish black "I Faked It" baseball tee for scrappin' in the parking lot, and the black Nurse Betty Dickies dress (shirtwaist styling) for daytime discipline engagements. Notice a color trend? Either Torrid is slavish to the bromide "black is slimming," or schwartz still reigns supreme as the bad-girl badge of honor.
Speaking of Dickies, the dark heart of Torrid's success (it's up to 21 stores in 18 states) may be its partnerships with branded coolwear manufacturers, who have agreed to make and distribute their usual fare in larger sizes. For the first time, trendy labels like Serious and Lip Service are churning out their slit-neck tees, distressed denim and risqué geisha dresses in plus proportions. To the smaller-sized this might not seem like a big deal, but it's earth-moving for Torrid's target customers. Explains Rose, "One of my ongoing quests in life is finding clothes that fit my style and fit me. I love Torrid for making it cool to be normal--to be big." Describing a fave pair of fitted black capris with red topstitching, she applauds the store's superior cut and quality. "Their clothes are cut for women, not little girls. They're flattering."
Torrid is geared to young women ages 15 to 30, a wider age range than HT's 12- to 22-year-old women and men. Two years ago, the company was inundated with requests for expanded sizes, so larger sizes were tested in existing stores--the canary in the coal mine was a pair of black vinyl pants. Since plus-sized girls represent a growing segment of the young-adult population (30 percent, according to Torrid's own numbers, a number that's nearly doubled in the past 20 years), a retail angle previously considered unprofitable has become fashion's new favorite.
The plush boutique, decked with velvet and flame accents, has eye appeal for every mall maven. Watch as diabolically svelte teensters drawn by Torrid's leopard-print camisoles and studded chokers wander in, only to be frustrated not to find anything in their size.
"Torrid is designed to make skinny girls jealous," Rose says gleefully. "We're going to have a much cooler scene now."
Torrid
2201 Lloyd Center,
282-1863
LOOK AT THIS:
The Dress column has been re-christened Look.
Up to now this column has been dedicated to wearables, but I'm now extending my reach to furniture and product design, architecture and other fresh finds in the pick - it - up - and - turn - it - in - the - light category. You'll get the same askance glance and knowing wink you've come to expect from Dress, with a wider field to gaze upon. I'm gonna look. Sometimes I'm even gonna point. But I won't hop up and down.
WWeek 2015