Women sizes 10-28, a voice made up of over 67 percent of American women, will finally have the opportunity to shop fashion-forward, high-quality apparel and participate in national model search.

Universal Standard, the direct-to-consumer brand for women size 10-28, is on a two-month, twelve-city road trip for a series of pop-ups in collaboration with Nordstrom and a nationwide model search in partnership with The Lions Model Management.

This project is giving a voice to the millions of women who represent the vast majority, and who are often ignored by the mainstream fashion industry. The goal is to change the apparel-industry landscape, and to bring a fashion-first, quality-centric approach to size-inclusive clothing.

“A size 6 woman never had better taste, she just had better options,” says Alexandra Waldman, Co-founder and CCO.

The road trip will be making a stop in Dallas.

Trunk Show and Model Search
Wednesday, October 18th
12pm – 8pm – Trunk Show
12pm – 3pm – Model Search

The Lawley Art Group
1507 Dragon Street
Dallas, TX 75207

Pop-Up at Nordstrom
October 19 – 21
11am – 7pm

NorthPark Center
8687 N. Central Expressway
Dallas, TX 75225

The Trunk Show and Nordstrom Pop-Up offers women a chance to see and experience the full collection in person.

“A vast majority of American women have been living in absurd exclusion based on size. There is no reason for any woman to think ‘I can’t participate in the style I want because my body is bigger.’ We are saying, ‘now you can!’” explained Polina Veksler, Co-founder and CEO.

Exclusive items that are not available to purchase at www.universalstandard.com will be on site to preview and pre-order. Shoppers can walk out hands free – all items will be delivered directly to the customer. The co-founders will also be in attendance for styling sessions, Q&A’s, and style tips. Plus, there will be a chance to win the new Fall Starter Kit.

“We’re working hard to represent a broader range of sizes for our customers by bringing them the best possible product including exclusive and limited distribution brands,” said Tricia Smith, Nordstrom executive vice president and general merchandise manager of women’s and designer apparel. “We believe this partnership with Universal Standard will give us the opportunity to better serve our customers and shine a light on the need to be more inclusive.”

A Model Search will be conducted in each of the twelve cities through open casting call auditions for plus-size models. Looking for new faces and challenging traditional beauty standards, Universal Standard will be searching for women size 10 – 28 for their own future campaign. The chosen candidates will also be flown to New York City to meet with The Lions agency’s top modeling agents. The Lions is built on a non-traditional business model that looks beyond measurements to find clients who have unique qualities and work to develop their profiles. The boutique agency’s clients include Irina Shayk, Kate Upton, Cameron Russell, Stella Maxwell, and Karen Elson.

“The Lions mission is to empower women in fashion and affect positive change in the industry and we’re happy to partner with Universal Standard to help increase the visibility of a group representing about 100 million women in the U.S. alone,” said Julia Kisla, CEO and managing partner, The Lions. “We look forward to meeting the top contenders from across the nation and to potentially expanding our roster.”

Other cities on the road trip include: Seattle (Sept. 8-11), Portland (Sept. 16), San Francisco (Sept. 21-24), Los Angeles (Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 5-6), Austin (Oct. 11-12), Houston (Oct. 14-15), St. Louis (Oct. 23), Chicago (Oct. 26-29), Columbus (Oct. 31), Washington D.C. (Nov. 3-5), New York (Nov. 7-8)