Fashion Brand Wray Is Closing — Why It’s A Huge Loss For Plus-Size Shoppers

The last year has been a disheartening one for body positivity and size inclusion in fashion, from the least size-diverse Fashion Month shows in years to brands pulling back on plus-size offerings to endless off-brand Ozempic ads treating plus-size bodies like a problem to be solved. As a plus-size influencer who has been advocating for a more inclusive fashion industry for over a decade, it’s been both heartbreaking and infuriating to see hard-won progress be undone so quickly and cavalierly — yet not surprising.

Mainstream fashion’s disregard for plus bodies is why I’ve long supported small businesses, highlighting the brands that came to size inclusivity of their own accord (and didn’t have to be dragged into it kicking and screaming after customer outrage). The combination of cool, color-forward styles and size inclusivity is still all too rare, which made Wray one of my go-to brands. So when the founder, Wray Serna, announced in March that the New York-based brand was shuttering due to “personal health challenges,” the news hit the plus community hard.

“My health has been declining for a while now, and recently, it took a sharp turn. My doctor told me, in no uncertain terms, that I needed to step away before it was too late,” Serna tells Refinery29. “When you’re a founder at this scale, you’re involved in every single aspect of the brand. There’s no delegation, no stepping back for a few months, it’s all or nothing. And when you’re sick, you just don’t have the creative energy to bring your vision to life the way you want to. I didn’t want to keep going just to go through the motions. I wanted everything I created to be intentional and beautiful. And right now, I can’t do that.” 

I’m happy Serna is taking care of herself, but I am pre-emptively mourning the loss of Wray as a label. I first fell in love with the brand, which launched in 2015, when I saw its signature wave print sets on my plus fashion influencer peers like Jessica Torres and Kellie Brown. Since then, its pieces have become closet staples I reach for year after year, with the type of fit and quality that make them stand out even in my very crowded wardrobe. “My mission was simple yet deeply personal: to express my voice as a designer and build a brand that resonated with people — clothing that wasn’t just worn but loved,” Serna says. “I wanted to create pieces that made people feel seen, confident, and celebrated.”

According to Wray shoppers, she did precisely that. When I put out a call to my online community of readers asking about their experience with the brand, I received an outpouring of responses about the positive impact Wray had on their lives.

“From its size offerings and ads to showing garments on multiple bodies on the website and getting the fit proportions right, Wray has always been fully committed to inclusivity,” Malessia Howland noted. Architect Ashleigh Walton said, “Knowing that I could get something well made, beautiful, and unique [that] also fit my body was a dream — some of my favorite and most highly complimented pieces in my wardrobe.” Alexis Hope Krase, founder of resale store PlusBKLYN, noted that this was particularly true for those on the upper end of the size range: “As a 4X/5X, Wray is one of only a few options available to me that are both stylish and well-made.” 

That inclusive ethos of the brand (which carried sizes XXS to 6X) was no accident. According to Serna, when she started designing for Wray, she realized that the "traditional methods" of grading designs up from a sample size weren't working. “The proportions were all wrong. It wasn’t just about making things bigger; it was about truly understanding different body shapes,” she says. So Serna turned to the community. “I asked people directly: ‘Are you a size 5X? Let’s work together.’ We paid individuals to provide their exact measurements — every detail from wrist circumference to neck width — so we could build a fit standard based on real bodies, not just theoretical ones,” Serna says. She notes that this wasn’t, as some fashion brands lead consumers to believe, “prohibitively expensive” — “it just required care, thoughtfulness, and a genuine desire to do it right.”

The effort Serna put in was apparent to shoppers. “Wray made cool clothes for fat bodies and never made us feel like we weren’t the target demo. They wanted and cherished us!” Victoria Edel said. Joanna Spilker also noted the respect for the customer that was evident in Wray’s offerings: “Unlike many other size-inclusive brands, Wray never made me feel like I had to pay a price for the privilege of wearing their clothes — whether an actual exorbitant up-charge or a sacrifice in taste level or quality. The respect shown to the buyer/wearer and the experience of shopping was as beautiful as the textiles themselves.”

For so many plus-size shoppers, Serna’s designs — which were never offered in watered-down, matronly versions for extended sizes — felt like a revelation: “Wray was probably the first brand where the plus-size versions were identical to the straight-size [ones],” said Rachel Marcus. “We didn’t get a frumpier sack version. We didn’t get the solids while straight sizes got prints, it was the exact same. That type of inclusion was so revolutionary for me. It altered my brain chemistry.” Fashion industry vet Kellie Brown agreed: “Not creating separate or limited items might seem obvious to a brand that has an inclusive size range but it almost never happens.” 

A common thread I heard from so many people was that Wray was the key to finding their fashion identity: “Wray was the first time I felt like my dream closet was within reach,” says Marielle Elizabeth, a Canadian slow fashion influencer. “When I first discovered the brand I was turning 30 and desperately wanting my closet to grow up and reflect how I saw myself. Wray gave me that: silk dresses that skim my curves, timeless denim, coats that both keep me warm and pull my outfit together, and on-trend pieces that are FUN! COLOURFUL! JOYOUS! SEXY! Words that I’ve wanted to reflect my style for so long, and never was able to find in my size, let alone in sizes above me. Wray was my homecoming to the woman I always wanted to be.” Chicago-based shopper Claire Fey shared a similar story: “Wray is the first brand that got me excited about dressing myself in years… Shopping as a fat person can feel so dehumanizing and Wray cut through that shame and hurt. Wray let me feel cool and hot and interesting and well fucking dressed. I will miss this brand with my whole heart.”

But Wray’s impact on the community went well beyond the clothing, it offered something that so many plus shoppers clamor for: a brick-and-mortar store. Not only did the physical store in New York allow plus-size customers, who are often forced to buy online, to try items in person but it also fostered an IRL community. Plus fashion influencer Jessica Torres said it “became our third space”: “So many times my girlfriend and I went in just to hang out with the shop girls, which we became really close to, and now have lifelong friends. We even made friends with other plus-size shoppers while hanging out. Wray became a small yet safe space for many fat people.”

Its parties and events always felt community-oriented, with everything from craft nights to Pride Week flash tattoo pop-ups. (I myself hosted a New York Fashion Week wrap party there in February of 2023.) “Wray represented a world where accessible plus-size fashion wasn’t out of reach,” says Teen Vogue associate editor Aiyana Ishmael. “[Living] in NYC, one of the world’s fashion capitals, I was constantly reminded that even though fashion was so important in this city, fat bodies still weren’t considered valued consumers... [The store] was a space to actually live out my ‘NYC main character’ moments as a fashion editor… Perusing through outfit options days before something important — rather than the standard online shopping I’ve been forced to do all my life — was an absolute delight. Wray was a retail reality larger bodies don’t often get.”

And in a fashion landscape that makes it more convenient (see: cheaper) to shop big names over independent brands, it’s a reality that's getting rarer and rarer. “I used to love spending a day down on [Manhattan's] Orchard Street because there was a little corridor of shops I could go to and try on in person with Wray, Ilana Kohn, and Big Bud Press. Now it’s just Big Bud left there,” Morgan Carattini said. “It always blows my mind that in a place like New York City plus-size women have so few places to shop in person and the options keep disappearing. Wray, in particular, filled the colorful, joyful hole in many wardrobes bringing us all the patterns we weren’t able to get elsewhere.”

The draw of a cool size-inclusive shopping experience extended far beyond the five boroughs of New York City. It was destination-worthy for many, including Jac, a shopper from Oregon who “went to NYC just to have the experience of visiting Wray in person,” and found the journey to be worth it. “It was the absolute best in-store experience I’ve had in my body! Every item came in my size, and I felt so beautiful I teared up in the dressing room! So grateful I could experience that.”

The inclusivity fostered by Wray wasn’t limited to size, either. It was a trans- and queer-friendly space. “As a trans person, I saw their size inclusivity as an invitation that they celebrated all bodies, including trans ones, too,” said Blossom Ruby Brown. Jen Rudolph echoed that: “Wray made me feel beautiful and elevated during a time when finding my personal style as a recently out queer human was stressing me out.”

Serna says that the best thing that came out of creating Wray was “the community” and the “real connections” it fostered. “The friendships, the support, the way this brand introduced me to an entire world of people who believe in something bigger than themselves. My brand made me believe in humanity again,” she says.

Even in the announcement of Wray’s closing, Serna continued her advocacy for inclusion by revealing the reason behind it. It's all too common for the news of a size-inclusive brand closing due to financial reasons to be interpreted as a harbinger of doom for all plus-size fashion, but by reiterating that that’s not what was the case here, Serna continues the fight for the world WRAY showed to be possible.

“I hope to return to creating one day. But more than anything, I hope I’ve inspired others to be intentional about inclusivity. I hope people felt seen when they wore my designs. I hope they knew I truly saw them,” Serna says. “At a time when inclusivity is being challenged in so many ways, I hope Wray serves as a reminder that there are brands, designers, and creators who refuse to erase people. The fight for representation is ongoing, and my hope is that our legacy helps keep that fight alive.”