Shape Up: Yoga Jeans Adds Plus-Skinny Fit and Celebrates Curves with Shopgirls

Well, curvy girls, Second Clothing’s wildly successful Yoga Jeans are getting a new sister: plus-size skinny-leg jeans.

Addition-Elle has carried straight-leg Yoga Jeans in sizes 14 to 24 for about a year; the retailer approached creator Eric Wazana when they heard the buzz on his no-sag, no-bag stretch denim. Thanks to its 92-per-cent shape memory vs the industry standard of 64 per cent, the comfortable fabric gives like leggings, bounces back repeatedly, and has a no-gap waistband to anchor the fit. And this weekend of November 28th/29th, a brand new skinny will hit Addition-Elle floors. “Plus women want jeans they can tuck into their boots,” says Wazana, with whom I chatted at a campaign preview yesterday evening. “We’re really happy we can offer that now.”

Yoga Jeans have been such a hit that the Canadian company doubled their production facilities just this past August and is looking to double in size yet again to handle the consistently growing number of orders. Shopgirls Gallery Boutique, a Parkdale-area store that specializes in local and handcrafted Canadian fashion and accessories, has alone sold more than 1,500 pairs of Yoga Jeans since February of this year. Boutique owner Michelle Germain, who is expecting her second child, loves them so much that she refuses to give them up over the course of her pregnancy. “They have a locking zipper, so I just do them up as far as they’ll go, make sure the the zipper tab is pressed down, then wear a belly band over the waist.”

The jeans have become a favourite for new moms, according to Germain, but the fit appeals to a broad range of females, from teens to seniors. “The fabric holds everything in and smooths it all out comfortably whether you’re carrying a little weight or  just had a baby,” she says.

Shopgirls carries one of the widest selection of Yoga Jeans outside of Quebec, including the plus-size straight-leg jeans up to size 24, and has just made their inventory available on their website. The boutique’s success with the brand led to a new style — still-youthful slightly higher-rise (just an inch) boot-cuts and skinnies — and has now inspired a new in-store and online campaign celebrating real women — and the real-life reaction Germain says they hear time and again from the changerooms (you might like to turn the volume on your monitor down a bit before viewing the clip here).

“There’s a general happy feeling around these jeans,” says a beaming Wazana. “I’m humbled by what’s happening.”

Second Clothing Yoga Jeans are available online from Shopgirls and Addition-Elle, as well as a bunch of other places in this Where-to-Get-Yoga-Jeans post. Image by Ahmad Ktaech courtesy of Shopgirls.

Tagged as: Eric Wazana, Made in Canada, plus-size skinny jeans, Shopgirls Gallery Boutique, Yoga Jeans by Second Denim