Beth Ditto, vocalist of The Gossip, unveiled her second collection Nov. 1, 2016, with an 11-piece, ready-to-wear line available in sizes 14 to 28. She collaborated with two of London’s most exciting young designers—Charles Jeffrey and Hanna Moon, with a campaign that celebrated self-love, togetherness and refreshingly real beauty.
In the collection, Ditto showed the best-loved shapes from Season 1 that were this time reimagined. The new silhouettes added included denim and silk styles. Inspiration for the line came from Ditto’s most-loved pieces from her own wardrobe. The statement dresses included architecturally styled shift dresses with cinched waists and were followed by a cocoon-shaped wool coat in the line-up. A jersey knit style with relaxed, dropped shoulders reappeared from the first collection. A French-terry premium hooded dress offered a new, relaxed glamour to the label. Her boxy white tees and soft, sequin-embellished sweaters were attractive accent pieces.
These clothes celebrate, showcase and enhance the fuller figure. “I want all kinds of fuller-figured young ladies to feel amazing in these clothes!” said Ditto. “We had such a great response to the first collection.” For women of size, her shapes and sizes are amazing. She was tired of looking for fashionable clothes in her nontraditional size, and thus the Ditto #2 brand has dialed into that market. These looks are even more sculptural and easy-to-wear. The company is still transcending the idea of trends—her shapes are timeless.
“When Beth asked me to work with her on this project, my gut reaction was the idea of capturing how I felt the first time I discovered Beth’s music,” commented Jeffrey. “The video for one of The Gossip’s first singles, “Listen UP,” was a starting point. We took a lot of the vibes from that and created this setting where interesting, free, real kids could dance in a messy room to music they loved.” He continued, “I also wanted to celebrate their amazing bodies in the same way the clothes do. There are so many great examples of bigger bodies in fashion campaigns, but I’ve never seen one that I felt was very rock-n-roll. I’m so proud of this.”
Ditto’s heroines are women and men who understand the perfection of imperfections. They dress with a compelling sense of independence. Good show!