Petite Friendly Brands Spotlight
- Carole Bhalla
- Feb 13
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 21
After reading the stories of these amazing women who have founded successful petite friendly brands, I am blown away. They all recognized the need for more petite clothing options in the fashion industry and did something about it. The drive and determination of these women is so inspiring, they deserve to be supported and recognized. Let's support these amazing women!
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I had a wonderful conversation with Nina Le, the owner of Ameris Bloomer. Ameris Bloomer is a petite brand that makes luxury, affordable intimates for petite women. Nina started the online brand in 2021 after having her third baby while working in Real Estate. She became frustrated after trying to find comfortable bras to fit her and realized that there were no bras specifically made for petite women. Her mission is to design comfortable undergarments to give petite women more confidence so that they can bloom to their fullest. Hence the name Ameris Bloomer. It is a play on words with Ameris stemming from America and Bloomer, in honor of Amelia Bloomer, who was an early suffragist and fashion advocate who invented “Bloomers”.
Nina takes pride in the quality of her products and has high standards when it comes to their production. She’s uses petite models and works with petite designers as well. She said something that really resonated with me, “Blessed people bloom like flowers. We are unique and we bloom the way we are.” Let’s support Nina in her journey and bloom with her.
Founder Ally Paterson (5"1") decided to take matters into her own hands after becoming frustrated with the lack of activewear options for short women. She has developed a line of activewear that caters to the unique needs of petite women, ensuring that every piece fits perfectly without the need for alterations. The collections include leggings, sports bras, tops, shorts and maternity leggings. Avo Activwear has been recognized as one of the best petite activewear brands by Women's Health Magazine.
Busy mom Bee Yang (5.0') strives to curate an elevated and affordable petite-friendly clothing brand curated for ladies 5’3” or shorter. Bee grew tired of watching the slow growth of petite fashion over the last 15 years and decided to do something about it. Her goal is to empower her fellow petite sisters and to provide a one stop shop of elegant, elevated, form fitting clothes for any occasion. She does this all while holding down a full-time job!
Alana Mandrick (5' 2") started Diima Apparel because as a petite woman who loves fashion, she struggled to find clothes that fit without having to alter them. Alana puts a lot of thought into every piece and would not promote anything that she wouldn't wear herself. From casual to formal pieces and everything in between, Diima Apparel offers something for everyone.
Founder Madeleine Cohen's (5"1") research proves that the petite population under 5' 4" is half of the US population and that it's a completely underserved market. The idea came to her after realizing that she hated all of her jeans. After searching for "best jeans for short girls" left her disappointed, she decided to create them herself. After launching in November of 2023, the brand is now available online at Nordstrom as well as on its own site.
This shop located in Hawaii specializes in jeans for extra petites 5” and under. Owner, Kathy Marzan (4' 10") and her daughter-in-law Jordan (5' 7") created their first pair of jeans after going shopping together. Jordan always left with multiple items but Kathy would leave with nothing. They believe that extra petite women deserve to have off the rack fashion choices so they can look and feel amazing.
Jenny Wang-Howell (5' 2") founded Petite Studio in 2016 to be the first petite shop offering trendy, stylish petite clothes for women. Her and her husband hired real petites for their design team and 9 years later they are one of the fastest growing indie brands in the market creating short run, curated collections of fashionable petite clothing.
Sara Ponce (4' 10") hated shopping growing up and was forced to continue shopping in the kids section through her early 20s. This made her feel insecure but she decided to turn her biggest insecurity into her biggest asset and Pretty & Petite was born. She wants to empower petite women to feel normal, beautiful and sexy.
Cici (4' 10") always struggled to find the perfect pair of jeans and grew tired of cutting them. She created Short Girl Jean to help give shorties confidence and power through clothing.
The focus is on luxury, tailored denim for women 5' 3" and under of all shapes and sizes. Their options include timeless day to night straight cuts to basic staple wardrobe shades.
Laura (5' 1") quit her job as a recruiter and started her label with no relevant background. Like the others, she was frustrated with the lack of petite clothing options. Her first collection sold out within days. Her focus is on small batch quantities in signature classic styles and original prints. She creates the clothes you want to wear to breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Tigist Ketema (5' 1) was consistently disappointed with the clothing options for petite women with curves. It became even harder while searching for clothes for work. After talking to countless other women who felt the same way, she set out to create a luxe line of petite dresses to uniquely serve petite, curvy professional women. Her promise is to make petite women feel like they are a priority in the fashion industry.
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