Rani Dhaschainey Sandra started The Curve Cult in 2015 to ride on the global body positivity movement and help plus-sized women feel good about how they look. Nine years on, the Singaporean entrepreneur is now focused on fighting fatphobia here.
When Rani Dhaschainey Sandra first started her plus-size fashion label The Curve Cult in 2015, it was to help large women feel good about themselves. Her more pressing aim, however, was to raise awareness of body positivity in Singapore.
The shop became a hit with plus-sized women who saw The Curve Cult as a way for them to express their sense of style and feel confident about how they looked.
“Fashion is a great form of self-expression but it was always an endless struggle to find clothes that fit us,” she said. “Not only were there limited options in size, but none of the models from popular brands looked like any of us, or most Singaporeans in general.”
Her Far East Plaza boutique filled the gap, offering everything from work outfits to ethnic wear to lingerie, in sizes S to 5XL.
It brought her joy to see “customers wear clothes that they finally like”.
By 2019, however, Rani was starting to lose steam. She was exhausted from running The Curve Cult. As a one-woman show, she spent around 12 hours a day on the business, from manning the boutique to liaising with designers and stockists.
She told CNA Women that by then, she had begun to recognise that while fashion was a great way to “boost the confidence of fat people”, it had its limitations in advocating against fatphobia and promoting self-acceptance among plus-sized women. These were issues Rani felt strongly about but could not always address directly.
By the end of that year, just as the pandemic began, she experienced burnout.
“It was a happy problem to have so many women want your clothes, but I was too exhausted to keep up with the demand,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was doing enough to change mindsets surrounding fat people.”
STRUGGLING WITH HER SIZE AND WEIGHT
Growing up plus-sized, Rani struggled with body acceptance from her tweens. The loathing she had for her figure was deeply ingrained and she constantly compared herself with others her age who were more petite.
“I was made fun of by friends, relatives, and even my closest family members,” she said. “Hating fat bodies became second nature to me. So when I first discovered body positivity, I was all for it.”
I wasn’t sure if I was doing enough to change mindsets surrounding fat people.
The body positivity movement, which is about embracing all body types and is rooted in being confident in one’s own body, began to take shape in the United States in 2012.
That year, Rani had just graduated from university with a degree in accountancy, and only a few people in Singapore had heard of the body positivity movement.
“I was seeing it mostly take place miles away, but it was so refreshing to witness love for fat and different types of bodies,” she said.
FATPHOBIA IN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Despite the wider range of fashion options her customers had, Rani observed that fatphobia still ran rampant among them.
“Some people, despite looking their best in our clothes, still hated their bodies,” she said. “That was something I really wanted to fight against – the self-hate and fatphobic sentiments that come from fat people themselves.”
Hating fat bodies became second nature to me. So when I first discovered body positivity, I was all for it.
By 2019, the body positivity movement was also going through its own ups and downs.
“It started off being about self-love but at some point, it felt like the body positivity movement didn’t know what it was about anymore,” Rani said.
“It felt both oversimplified and overcomplicated at the same time. We’re supposed to love all bodies but we weren’t moving away from the stubborn idea that our bodies defined us, our values, even our health – when we’re more than that.
The images portrayed still conformed to a specific beauty ideal, namely being thin, and many people simply did not feel included in body positivity, she said.
Rani was especially frustrated by the backlash that emerged against plus-sized people who were confident about their bodies. It was also assumed that just because they didn’t look as thin, they were unhealthy.
We’re supposed to love all bodies but we weren’t moving away from the stubborn idea that our bodies defined us, our values, even our health, when we’re more than that.
“The movement started receiving a lot of criticism on the basis of health, but somehow only fat people received most of the vitriol,” she said. “Skinny people, who also have health issues, were still the face and pinnacle of beauty and health.
“I’m not for pitting fat and skinny women against each other but I want to highlight how it isn’t about health as much as it is about appearances.
“Weight and diet are important factors of health, but they aren’t the only ones. Yet, it’s the only thing fat people hear about – so I wanted to bring up other health areas fat people can look at too,” she said.
To address these issues and shift the mindset of people surrounding fatphobia and health, all while tackling her burnout, Rani decided to slow down. Instead of selling more clothes, she began organising events under The Curve Cult.
These included virtual talks on fat acceptance, intimate circles where plus-sized women could share their experiences, classes led by registered nutritionists focusing on aspects beyond losing weight and calories, such as blood sugar and sleep patterns, and a series of yoga and dance classes. These took place every other month and were open to everyone.
Some exercise classes were conducted virtually by plus-sized yoga practitioners based in the United States. They specialised in adaptive and gentle yoga, a type of exercise tailored to bigger bodies or people with physical disabilities.
“It was so heartening to see so many big girls dance and move their bodies freely without fear of being judged,” Rani said. “Through the events, we got to focus on maintaining the health of our bodies, however they looked.”
FIGHTING AGAINST FAT BIAS THROUGH ACCEPTANCE
Rani still runs The Curve Cult at Far East Plaza but has pivoted her activism from generic body positivity to a focus on fat acceptance, describing it as “giving access, respect and rights to fat bodies while nurturing acceptance among them”.
“The body positivity movement often suggests that people should do whatever they think they need to do to feel positive about how they look. But unfortunately, it largely promotes the idea that thinner, fitter people are happier, healthier, and more beautiful – so people do whatever they can to look thin, and we’re stuck in this awful cycle.”