While I was decompressing from New York Fashion Week, I fell back into one of my favorite pastimes: doomscrolling on Threads. Then I saw a post that made me stop mid-scroll. A collaboration specifically US x Abisola. Abisola Omele, the British-Nigerian plus size content creator, fashion writer and influencer, was announcing her latest project: a collaboration with Universal Standard.
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Why Abisola Caught My Attention
At TCF, I pay attention when a plus size woman gets invited into the room to help shape fashion, not simply wear it. I want to know what’s actually being made, who gets to wear it and whether the clothes give us something we genuinely want in our closets.
That’s the lens I bring to plus size fashion. After years of watching how brands talk about inclusion versus what they actually put on the rack, I’ve become much more interested in the details… the sizing, the construction, the styling and whether a collection feels like fashion or simply another attempt to check a box.
So, when Abisola Omele teamed up with Universal Standard, I was paying attention. I had just come off New York Fashion Week and was decompressing with some Threads scrolling when her announcement landed in my feed. Naturally, I had to see what she was up to.
Who is Abisola?
If you’ve never come across Abisola before, allow me the pleasure of introducing you. She carries herself with a certain je ne sais quoi that feels inherently luxurious.
There’s something about the way she approaches fashion that makes even the simplest look feel considered. She has an eye for those pieces that make you pause and think, “Oh, she looks good,” without making it feel like she tried too hard.
And now, she’s bringing that sensibility to Universal Standard.
What makes this collaboration particularly interesting is that Abisola is not approaching it as someone who simply wanted to put her name on a collection. She came to the table with a very specific idea of what she wanted to wear, including a Pinterest board full of the things she had been saving for years.
“For me, as someone who really loves fashion, I actually have a Pinterest board full of styles that have just never been able to be made in my style and my size even,” Abisola says in Universal Standard’s behind-the-scenes reel about the collection.
That Pinterest board became part mood board, part wish list and, apparently, part evidence of just how much fashion she had been mentally collecting.
“I say little, it was pretty big,” she jokes.
Of course it was.
When she started working on the collection, Abisola went back to that very board and asked herself a simple question: “What do I really want right now?”
The answer included a structured suit and “something that had really strong and cool buttons on it.” Those details may sound small, but they tell you quite a bit about how she approaches fashion. She wasn’t starting from a generic idea of what a plus size collection should look like. She was thinking about the clothes she had actually been wanting to wear.
“The whole collection in general was just reflective of pieces that are in this little, like, folder of mine,” she says. “Again, just never really made in my size, which is unfortunate, but also a really fun opportunity to go through now and actually see pieces that I can bring to life and make it in accessible sizes.”
And that is where Abisola’s US x Abisola collaboration gets interesting.
She isn’t simply asking for more sizes. She is taking some of the things that have lived in the aspirational corners of her fashion brain and helping bring them into the physical world.
For a plus size woman who loves fashion, that difference matters.
What Abisola Omele Wanted From Universal Standard
Abisola has already been putting her money where her mouth is when it comes to making more room for plus size women in fashion. Her previous collaboration with British womenswear brand RIXO helped expand the brand’s sizing up to a UK 26 for the first time, making her no stranger to the work involved in getting brands to think differently about who gets access to their clothes.
That work extends beyond design collaborations, too. Abisola is a fashion writer and commentator whose work has appeared in publications including Harper’s Bazaar. She has used her editorial voice to talk about the fashion industry’s relationship with size, representation and women of color.
So, when it came time to decide what she wanted from her US x Abisola collaboration, the conversation wasn’t simply about having a recognizable name attached to the collection.
“I think for me, priorities are accessibility size-wise, technical, I guess, knowledge,” she explains. “To work with a brand that really could promise both things.”
Universal Standard’s ability to make every piece in sizes 00 to 40 was clearly part of the appeal.
“Double zero to 40. Incredible,” Abisola says. “All the pieces come in that because so often you’ll see a brand and they’ll do a collab or they’ll do something and I’ll be like, oh, you can only get some pieces in some sizes.”
Then comes the part I suspect a lot of plus size women will understand immediately.
“I hate that so much.”
Same.
There is something particularly frustrating about seeing an exciting collaboration announced, getting excited about a piece and then discovering that the item you actually want isn’t available in your size. It’s one thing to talk about inclusion. It’s another thing to make sure the entire collection is actually accessible to the women you’re claiming to include.
For Abisola, that was nonnegotiable.
“This, it’s like everything is in every size, which is honestly so fun to even say.”
This Collection Was About the Technical Details, Too
I also appreciate that Abisola talks about the technical side of the collaboration because that part of fashion doesn’t always make it into the conversation.
When we talk about size-inclusive fashion, the conversation can quickly become centered around the number on the size chart. But creating clothing for a wider range of bodies requires more than simply adding a few sizes to the production run.
Abisola was interested in understanding that process and being involved in it.
“When I obviously had the introductory meetings with the team, finding out the technical aspect and how involved I got to be with the learning as well, I was just like, yeah, this is going to work because we can really make it what I want it to be.”
That involvement changed the nature of the project for her.
“This isn’t just like a design collection. This was really like a technical collection as well.”
And I think that comes through when you look at the pieces.
The collection includes ranges in sizes 00 to 40, with prices ranging from $68 to $288. There are staples, tailoring, knitwear, skirts, dresses and outerwear, but there is also a sense that these clothes were designed with actual wardrobes in mind.
Abisola wanted the collection to be comfortable, too.
“I wanted it to be comfortable. I wanted it to have those different elements that just add to making it easy to wear. And they were able to do that.”
That is something I noticed while looking through the collection. The clothes aren’t trying to make comfort and style mutually exclusive. Pieces such as the ponte wrap pants, blazer and skirts have the structure you expect from tailored clothing while still offering the stretch that makes them much easier to actually live in.
Because if I’m investing in a blazer or skirt, I want it to have staying power in my wardrobe. I don’t want to buy something because it looks good in a campaign and then discover six months later that I’ve worn it exactly once.
Give me a piece that can work for the office, dinner and a Saturday afternoon without requiring an entirely new wardrobe around it.
That is the kind of fashion I want more of.
Abisola’s Style Is Instinctive
There is another thing I found interesting about Abisola’s approach to the collection: she makes decisions based on instinct.
“I think it’s the same rule that I kind of carry through life, which is just following my instinct,” she says.
Apparently, that instinct is fast.
“I’m really, really good at making decisions very fast because I base them on how I’m feeling or how something makes me feel. If I have to think about it too long, I don’t think there’s — I already know the answer, basically.”
I actually love that as a description of personal style because there is something very honest about it. Sometimes a piece simply hits. The color is right. The shape is right. The details are right. You put it on and there is no need to conduct a focus group in your head.
Abisola says that instinct isn’t limited to fashion. She applies the same approach to interiors and other decisions in her life. “As soon as I see a piece, I know it’s a yes or no,” she explains. The decisions may happen quickly, but she says they are still thought through. It is simply an instinctive way of knowing what works for her.
That perspective also helps explain why the collection doesn’t feel overloaded with unnecessary details. There are interesting shapes, textures and colors, but the pieces still feel wearable.
Which Piece from the US x Abisola Collection Is Most Her?
This should have been an easy question.
It wasn’t.
“The whole collection fills me,” Abisola says. “If someone was to look at it who really knew my style, the suede-like skirt we have is just so me.”
She describes it as “a very easy go-to piece,” which makes sense when you look at the collection as a wardrobe rather than a collection of individual fashion moments.
The suede-like skirt can become the starting point for a lot of different outfits, which is probably why it was the piece Abisola ultimately chose as her favorite. She admits there are other pieces she loves, including the three-piece, but the skirt wins.
For styling the collection, she points to the combination of the suede skirt and one of the polos.
“That knit suede combination is really, really cool,” she says.
She’s also drawn to the colors, including the blue, chocolate suede and pink. Those combinations make the pieces easier to introduce into a wardrobe without requiring you to suddenly abandon everything already hanging in your closet.
And then, because apparently choosing favorites is hard when you’ve helped create the entire collection, Abisola basically throws the whole thing back on the table.
“I don’t know if it’s what I say everyone should go for because I think the whole collection, guys, it’s like seven pieces. Let’s just get the whole thing, you know.”
Honestly, I respect it.
Meanwhile, I’m Over Here Planning Outfits
The Knit Sweater in Abisola Blue was one of the first pieces that caught my attention. That creamy, light blue shade immediately reminded me of the soft, polished color palette I kept noticing while exploring Manhattan’s Upper East Side during NYFW.
And yes, there is something about this collection that gives me the same quiet-luxury feeling I was obsessed with while I was there.
Outerwear is another category where Abisola gave us plenty to play with. Blazers and capes have a way of making an outfit feel instantly more intentional, and these are exactly the kinds of pieces that let the inner bougie, wealthy woman screaming to come out and play have her moment.
I’m not mad at her.
I can already see a deep army-green wool-blend wraparound cape with the matching suede skirt, a crisp white button-up with gold buttons and a pair of black pointed boots.
The deep burgundy tweed point-A-line dress gives me a completely different direction. I’m thinking dinner and martini meet-up with friends, the kind of outfit that looks polished without feeling like you’ve dressed for a formal event.
That is what keeps pulling me back to this collection.
The clothes aren’t screaming for attention. They’re giving you enough to work with.
Plus Size Fashion Should Give Us Something to Want
What I love about this collection is the lack of statement pieces with wild, complicated designs. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fashion moment as much as the next girl, but there is something refreshing about a collection filled with pieces I can actually see myself wearing over and over again.
These feel like the foundation of a capsule wardrobe, the kind of clothes that can live in your closet and keep finding their way into your outfits. And honestly, if I can open my closet and pull something from this collection when I’m standing there thinking, “I have nothing to wear,” then Universal Standard and Abisola may have just helped me retire that phrase a little.
This is a collection designed to be worn, not tucked away waiting for the “right” occasion. The basic T-shirt can go with a pair of Universal Standard jeans for weekend errands around town, while the deep burgundy tweed point-A-line dress can come out for dinner. A structured blazer can make jeans feel more intentional, and the cape and suede skirt combination can turn a simple button-up into a full look.
There is room for fantasy here, but there is also room for real life.
And maybe that’s what I like most about the US x Abisola collaboration.
You can shop the full collection at UniversalStandard.com
After spending a week in New York surrounded by fashion, I came home thinking about the clothes I actually want in my closet. The pieces that make getting dressed easier, give me options and still make me feel like I put some thought into the look.
Abisola had a Pinterest board full of clothes she wanted but couldn’t find in her size. Now, some of those ideas are hanging on a rack, available in sizes 00 to 40.
That feels like more than a collaboration.
It feels like a woman finally getting to shop from her own Pinterest board.
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