Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Here’s what inspired Lena Dunham’s new plus-sized fashion line

Lena Dunham wants everyone deserves a good miniskirt — not just thin women.

The actress-slash-writer-slash-director has spent years in search of short skirts that fit her body, mostly to no avail. “I can’t wear it because I’m basically showing what my mother would refer to as my pupik,” she quipped to the New York Times.

Thanks to Dunham’s new plus-sized fashion line, designed in collaboration with the upscale plus-sized e-retailer 11 Honoré, that’s about to change. Now, women with bigger bodies can experience a skirt that was made with them in mind — as long as they’re willing to fork over $138 for it.

Dunham has been an internet darling and the object of its derision — sometimes for her seeming personification of nepotism and privilege, and sometimes for daring to appear on the red carpet in a non-size-zero body. Her new capsule collection reflects the — well, complicated — persona she’s developed over a decade or so of fame.

Its studiously highbrow vibe will likely elicit some eye-rolls. In one promotional photo, Dunham lounges beside ever-so-slightly battered copy of Raymond Chandler’s “The High Window.” She explained to the Times that her mother, the artist Laurie Simmons, named each piece in the collection after locations in the family’s New York stomping grounds. (The aforementioned miniskirt goes by the moniker “DeLuca;” an accompanying blazer is, of course, “Dean.”) The least expensive item is a plain white tank top that retails at $98.

The collection’s successful launch — several items have already sold out in some sizes — is obviously a factor of Dunham’s celebrity appeal, but it may also testify to mainstream retailers’ longtime neglect of plus-size shoppers. In many department stores, a comparison of so-called “standard” and plus size sections evinces a deep conviction on the part of buyers that women over size 12 do not deserve a single nice thing.

And Dunham has good points to make when it comes to the “body positivity” movement. This now-ubiquitous slogan is supposed to indicate celebration of all body shapes. In practice, we’ve seen magazines and modeling agencies welcome one or two more body shapes into their hallowed rosters.

“We want curvy bodies that look like Kim Kardashian has been up-sized slightly,” Dunham told the Times. “We want big beautiful butts and big beautiful breasts and no cellulite and faces that look like you could smack them on to thin women.”

We hope the glossies take note, and that many women get to enjoy this truly lovely sundress. But we’d like to point out that anyone shopping on anything resembling a budget will have to find their miniskirts elsewhere.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.