This afternoon Eloquii posted the following note on their Facebook wall:
A Special Message to our Fans
For more than a year, eloquii has served you by delivering quality, must-have fashion in sizes that highlight your confident curves. In return, you have given us great feedback about how we can better serve you.
We look forward to offering you new fashion at www.eloquii.com through the summer. However, after a year’s test at market, we have decided to phase out eloquii and we have begun discussions with others who have expressed an interest in the future of the brand and/or its products.
Thank you so much for your support and for your feedback as we developed and refined eloquii over the last year. We recognize that eloquii plays an important role in our fans’ lives and look forward to better serving our clients in the future.
I’ve got to admit to you all that I’m taking this news pretty hard. Not because I shopped at Eloquii particularly often, because I didn’t (maybe that makes me part of the problem?). The reason that this announcement from Eloquii bothers me so much is because it seems like a real blow to the plus size shopper who has very few fashionable well-made shopping outlets available to her. I’m a curvy gal who can fit into both plus size and traditional sized items. The reason I loved Eloquii is that they took the time to think about curves and how clothing fits a woman’s body. I’ve waxed poetic about their pencil skirt on this site more than a couple of times and it’s one of the staples in my closet because it’s curve flattering and it actually fits the way a skirt is supposed to fit.
In August, I was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune for a piece about plus size shopping trends and said this:
“It’s a crapshoot when you’re shopping online,” Koivu said. “It’s even nicer being able to go into the store and feel the items.”
Ultimately, this is why I feel Eloquii failed. The Limited wasn’t interested in getting Eloquii out into the stores and in front of curvy shoppers. Sure, Chicago had an Eloquii store, but few other cities did. While I do the vast majority of my shopping online, this isn’t the norm for the majority of the shopping public, so instead of going out to find the curvy shopper, Eloquii expected to be found online.
The only positive spin I can take away from all of this is that Linda Heasley recently jumped ship at The Limited to become CEO of Lane Bryant. Assuming that Heasley was responsible for the founding of the Eloquii brand, it makes sense to think that she will bring the same sense of style and detail to the fashions at Lane Bryant. (The timing of Heasley’s departure and the axing of Eloquii also makes me think that The Limited was chomping at the bit to part ways with its plus size sister store.)
If you’ve loved shopping Eloquii, be sure to check the site frequently for what will hopefully be some fab liquidation sales over the coming months!
Do Tell: Are you disappointed about this announcement from Eloquii? What’s your favorite plus-size retailer?
3/14 Update: It appears that the Eloquii Clearance Sales Have Begun!
[...] the line with little fanfare and quickly shuttered it with even less. The announcement that Eloquii is closing was a huge blow for the plus sized community because Eloquii made cute clothing for women in sizes [...]
[...] the line with little fanfare and quickly shuttered it with even less. The announcement that Eloquii is closing was a huge blow for the plus sized community because Eloquii made cute clothing for women in sizes [...]
[...] the line with little fanfare and quickly shuttered it with even less. The announcement that Eloquii is closing was a huge blow for the plus sized community because Eloquii made cute clothing for women in sizes [...]