“Beginning again is not the same as starting over.”
Whew. Kristine Thompson knew exactly what she was saying with that one.
KIN by Kristine is officially back, and for those of us who have watched Kristine build her place in plus size fashion over the years, this relaunch feels especially full circle.
As the founder and editor-in-chief of The Curvy Fashionista, I have spent nearly two decades watching, reporting on, championing, and occasionally side-eyeing the evolution of plus size fashion. I have seen brands come, go, expand, shrink their size ranges, promise us the world, and sometimes act like the plus size customer just appeared yesterday.
And Kristine’s story is one we have actually watched unfold.
TCF covered the original KIN by Kristine launch back in 2019. We came back when she followed it with another collection. We have watched Trendy Curvy grow, watched Kristine build her voice as a creator and entrepreneur, and watched her continue to show plus size women that style was never something we had to earn by changing our bodies.
So, when she announced that KIN was returning September 9, 2026, in an expanded US size range of 10–32, right as New York Fashion Week was kicking into gear?
Oh, we were paying attention.
Because this is not somebody dusting off an old logo and calling it a comeback.
Kristine is returning to an idea she believed in, armed with everything the first chapter taught her.
And baby, that is a very different kind of beginning.
KIN by Kristine Has Entered Its New Era
Ahead of the relaunch, Kristine shared a little of what it took to get back here.
“KIN’s first chapter began with a sample I sewed myself using skills my mother taught me,” she wrote. “It grew from packing orders in our home to being carried by Nordstrom and eventually became one of the hardest, most rewarding lessons of my life.”
That alone gives you a sense of how personal KIN has always been.
The first time around, Kristine built the brand with, as she describes it, “vision and determination.”
This time?
There is more experience. More intention. A team. A clearer understanding of what she wants the brand to become.
“Everything we learned brought us here,” she shared.
That part matters.
Fashion loves a shiny launch story, but entrepreneurship is rarely that neat. Sometimes a good idea needs room to evolve. Sometimes you learn what you could not have known the first time. Sometimes you have to step away before you can see clearly what you want to build next.
And sometimes you come back.
Not from zero.
From experience.
If You Were Here for the Original KIN, You Already Know
For our longtime TCF readers, KIN by Kristine is not new-new.
Kristine originally launched the label in 2019 after years of building Trendy Curvy, the style platform she founded in 2013.
By then, her community had spent years coming to her for outfit ideas, styling inspiration, and answers to that forever-question:
“Where did you get that?”
Eventually, Kristine realized she wanted to offer another answer.
Her own line.
The original KIN collection debuted with seven pieces in sizes 14–26, with colorful dresses and separates that reflected the polished, feminine, statement-making style her audience already associated with Trendy Curvy.
Then in 2020 came Printed Paradise, another collection that continued building out the KIN point of view.
And behind the scenes, the business was growing too, eventually landing at Nordstrom.
So, when Kristine says this is not “starting over,” she means it.
There is history here.
And This Time, the Size Range Got Bigger
One of the first things we noticed about the new KIN by Kristine?
The size range expanded.
The Fall 2026 collection is available in US sizes 10–32, or approximately 0X–5X depending on the piece.
The original collection launched in sizes 14–26, so seeing KIN return with a broader range feels particularly notable at a time when the plus size fashion market has been giving us enough size-range whiplash to last several seasons.
Because while some brands have been quietly pulling back, Kristine came back and made the table longer.
We love to see it.
And that decision lines up perfectly with the message behind this version of the brand.
“We were never the problem. The clothes were,” Kristine wrote while teasing KIN’s return.
“For more than a decade, women have asked me how to make clothes work for their bodies. Then I realized, we were solving the wrong problem.”
There it is.
The body was never the design flaw.
So, What Is In the Fall 2026 KIN by Kristine Collection?
Now let’s get into these clothes, because Kristine did not come back after all this time to give us three basics and a motivational quote.
The Fall 2026 assortment includes dresses, jackets, skirts, tops, trousers, matching sets, sweatshirts, accessories, and the kind of pieces that are clearly intended to talk to one another in your closet.
KIN has organized the collection around wardrobe categories like Foundation, Balance, Statement, Elevate, and Ease, which we find especially interesting.
Instead of just saying “here is a top, here is a skirt,” the brand is thinking about the role a piece plays in your wardrobe.
Is it the thing you build around?
Is it your statement piece?
Is it the polished option?
Is it what you reach for when comfort is non-negotiable but you still want to look pulled together?
That feels very on-brand for Kristine.
If you have followed Trendy Curvy for any amount of time, you know she does not just wear clothes.
She styles them.
She understands proportion. Layering. Balance. The power of a jacket. The difference between something fitting your body and something actually being designed to complement it.
You can see that thinking throughout the new collection.
The Crocodile Jacket Said, “Yes, You Will Be Looking at Me”
Let us begin with the Statement Crocodile Jacket because subtlety clearly had the day off.
And we support that.
The cropped jacket comes in rich shades including chocolate brown and rust, with a tonal crocodile-effect texture, exaggerated sleeves, a high neckline, and an elasticized hem.
This is the piece you throw over a simple look when you want everyone to assume you spent substantially more time getting dressed than you actually did.
You know the category.
Jeans. Tank. Great jacket.
Done.
But because this is KIN, the proportions are doing some work too. The cropped silhouette is designed to pair naturally with higher-waisted skirts and pants instead of swallowing the entire outfit.
As someone who doesn’t have hips and has a high waist? Thank you.
The Leopard Set Is Absolutely Going to Start Something
Then there is the Foundation Contour Top, a corset-inspired knit with contrast piping, a square neckline, and wide, bra-friendly straps.
Yes.
Bra-friendly.
We pause for gratitude.
The top is available in leopard and chocolate and coordinates with the Foundation Flare Skirt, creating a matching set that feels polished without getting precious.
And the leopard?
Listen.
We know our audience.
Some of y’all saw “leopard set” and mentally added it to cart before finishing this paragraph.
We are not judging.
Satin, But Make It Easy
KIN also gave us an elevated spin on the tracksuit with the Elevate Satin Bomber and coordinating Elevate Satin Pants.
The combination brings together sporty proportions and a lustrous satin finish, complete with contrast detailing and a wide-leg trouser.
The pants are pull-on.
They have pockets.
You may proceed accordingly.
It is exactly the kind of outfit we love for those moments when you need to look like you made an effort, but you absolutely refuse to sacrifice comfort in the process.
Airport outfit?
Dinner?
Event weekend?
Running around New York during Fashion Week pretending your feet do not hurt?
We see the vision.
And Then There Is the Wrap Dress
One of the most meaningful pieces in the new collection might also be one of the simplest.
The Balance Wrap Dress revisits a silhouette from KIN’s original chapter.
The updated version features an adjustable wrap fit, waist tie, V-neckline, and softly gathered sleeves.
A wrap dress coming back in a collection centered on beginning again?
Okay, symbolism.
We see you.
There is something fitting about Kristine bringing one of KIN’s earlier signatures into the new assortment rather than pretending the brand had no life before 2026.
The past is not being erased.
It is being edited. Refined. Carried forward.
KIN Is Designing Around the Shopper, Not Asking the Shopper to Figure It Out
Here is another detail we appreciate.
KIN’s website goes beyond a basic size chart.
The brand has introduced fit tools that help shoppers make a size selection based on their measurements and fit preferences. Shoppers who already know their size at brands such as Torrid, ELOQUII, or Lane Bryant can also use that familiarity as a reference point.
Because plus size online shopping is already enough of a detective assignment.
We have all been there.
You are reading the size chart. Then the reviews. Then the fabric composition. Then somebody says, “size down two sizes.” Another person says, “runs extremely small.” You are zooming in on the model. Checking whether the fabric stretches. Wondering if “oversized” means actually oversized or simply “comfortable on the size-two fit model.”
Ma’am.
We just wanted a dress.
So, anything that helps take some of that labor off the shopper is welcome.
And again, this is where Kristine’s years of experience make a difference.
She has spent more than a decade hearing plus size women talk about their clothes.
What fits.
What does not.
What they wish brands understood.
What they are tired of compromising on.
KIN is being built by someone who has been inside that conversation for years.
There Is a Family Story Behind KIN by Kristine, Too
Even the name itself carries history.
KIN is rooted in family, with the letters representing Kristine, her mother Iris, and her sister Nicole.
That makes the story about the first sample even sweeter.
Kristine learned sewing skills from her mother, then used those skills when creating the earliest version of a brand that would eventually carry their family connection in its name.
Years later, she is bringing it back.
No wonder her relaunch announcement ended with:
“Either way, welcome to the family.”
Okay, now you are trying to make us emotional.
Relaunching KIN at the Start of NYFW Feels Fitting
And then there is the timing.
KIN by Kristine officially returned on September 9, just as the fashion industry descended on New York for another season of New York Fashion Week.
That is quite the backdrop for a plus size brand comeback.
For years, plus size fashion has been treated like something orbiting the “real” fashion industry rather than existing squarely inside it.
The shows happen over here.
The plus size conversation happens over there.
The trend reports talk about everything happening in fashion and then, somehow, a significant portion of the population gets relegated to a separate paragraph.
We have never bought into that.
Plus size fashion is fashion.
Period.
So, seeing Kristine bring KIN back into the world during one of the biggest fashion moments of the year feels appropriate.
Especially with the message she has chosen to anchor the brand around:
“We were never the problem. The clothes were.”
That is not a radical statement to anyone who has been shopping above a size 14 for longer than five minutes.
But it still feels powerful to see it translated into a fashion business.
This Is What Beginning Again Can Look Like
Perhaps that is the part of KIN by Kristine’s return we are most excited about.
Not just the clothes.
Not just the expanded size range.
Not even the Foundation pleated set, although she is absolutely doing her part.
It is seeing a plus size founder come back to something she created years ago and say: I know more now. I have learned more. I know what I want this to be.
And I am ready to try again.
There is something refreshing about that in an industry that loves to pretend every successful founder got everything right on attempt number one.
Kristine did not erase KIN’s first chapter.
She brought the lessons with her.
The woman who once created that first sample using skills her mother taught her now returns with years more experience, a larger size range, a team, and a clearer vision for what KIN can become.
So yes, KIN by Kristine is back.
But maybe “back” is not even the right word.
KIN by Kristine grew up.
And we are very curious to see where Kristine takes it from here.
The KIN by Kristine Fall 2026 collection is available now in US sizes 10–32 at KINbyKristine.com
Now tell us: Are you going for the leopard set, the crocodile jacket, the satin situation, or are you already making a whole KIN wishlist?
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