What is Indie+Design?

Indie+Design is an online Plus Size magazine focusing on fashion and feminist issues and highlighting independent designers in the plus size world. We know that plus size women are under-represented in the media, fashion and journalism world.

  1. We want to highlight up and coming voices in the journalism and blogging community with investigative Articles and Think Pieces.
  2. We want to throw some light on Independent Designers who are creating new shapes and really attacking the problems in the clothing industry one hand made design at a time.
  3. We want transparency in product reviews with our groundbreaking, original concept of the Blind Review.

Reviews
When you read a product review today, you never know if the review was paid for and if you are getting and honest opinion or a sponsored one. So we are going to try to do things a little differently. Participants, who will not only be bloggers but people from all walks of life, will be sent items for review, which they get to keep. No high street or Ready-to-Wear brands will be featured. The whole point is to highlight plus size FASHION – NOT – trends.

  • Blind Review – The reviewer will be sent an item(s) with all tags removed. They will also be sent only a brief description of the item; fabric content and care instructions. The reviewer will send back an up to 500-word review and pictures of them wearing the item. Hopefully, this will be an exciting way to explore new fashion and new designs by independent brands.
  • Group Review – 3-4 reviewers of different shapes and sizes will be sent the “same” item in their size. They will then take pictures of themselves wearing the item and up to 250-word review. These will then be combined into one editorial review to be published on IndieBomb and all participant sites. The aim is to show how an item translates to a wider range of plus sizes.

Articles

Fativism in Fatshion is on the decline. We want to bring journalism back to plus size blogging. Here we want to publish, well researched, well-written think pieces that discuss the issues faced both in the industry and in life. With the current trend in fake-news, we need to start promoting actual facts and highlighting the stories ignored by the standard press. The world is changing and the way journalism used to work via broadsheets and TV is undergoing a great change. We aim to be a part of that change.

Interviews

What better way to introduce consumers to the differences between mass produced ready to wear and true couture than by talking to the designers and makers themselves. Consumers are getting savvy to the environmental and ethical issues involved in the making of their wardrobes. But there is still a lot to show in the difference between mass produced and made by hand. People are so used to “throw away” fashion that they confuse cheap = affordable. There is a grand canyon of difference in fit and durability between hand made and ready to wear that designers and makers are dying to become a part of the conversation with their customers.

How Does A Social Media Wave Work?
The goal is to form a community who then set off a self-perpetuating social media ocean, or wave, of likes and shares directing traffic to both bloggers, indie designers sites, and products outside of current advertising streams. We are all fighting FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram’s algorithms. But grouping together and sharing each article we create our own social media ripples. The emphasis is sharing each other’s work. With more members of the community, those ripples turn to waves until we create our own tsunami.

How does a social media “wave” form?

  • The blogger & designer collaborate to create an article
  • The article is published on both the blogger & designer’s site and the Indie+Design site.
  • Blogger & designer share the Indie+Design site link (to avoid being capped by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other SM)
  • The Indie+Design Community – all of its contributors then share the link via their SM
  • Users then view the Indie+Design page which contains links back to the blogger’s site/article and the designer’s products.
  • Who in turn also link in their versions of the posts and on their products As seen on Indie+Design.
  • Users then go back to Indie+Design where BOOM like a wave crashing on the shore, it starts all over again.

How do I join Indie+Design?

Want to review, write or be interviewed by Indie+Design? Go to our Join Us page and tell us a bit about yourself and what you can add to our project. Also give us a link to your blog, Instagram or product page. Indie+Design is currently staffed with a group of incredibly creative, crazy volunteers. Yes, that’s right. We are paying for this ourselves. So when you quote us your rates, be kind.

*This is to a targeted audience of three countries (USA, UK and Canada) for a 24 hour period 01/12/16.