Spokane — A Spokane-based fashion brand is looking to make shopping for clothes more inclusive for people of all sizes and genders.
Dom+bomb, which co-founders Delena Mobley and Kim Blessing describe as Spokane’s first Black and LGBTQ+ woman-owned, sustainable fashion brand, recently launched a size- and gender-inclusive clothing collection.
“We really wanted a place where everyone could come together and participate in this really positive shopping experience,” Blessing said.
“Then we’re like, ‘Well, we’re not going to just start at size. We’re also going to be very inclusive when it comes to gender.’ We really wanted to have a safe, joyous place for people to get clothes that make them feel good.”
Dom+bomb’s collection, which comes in a variety of sizes from zero to 32, includes graphic T-shirts, a skirt, crop and boatneck tops and a deity chain made in collaboration with jeweler Blue Owl Handicrafts.
The deity chain can be styled as a belt or necklace.
Items range in price from $39 to $85 and are currently sold on the company’s website, domandbomb.com.
The business also offers tailoring, mending, upcycling and personal styling services.
Mobley and Blessing founded dom+bomb in 2020. Prior to launching the business, Blessing and Mobley worked for a public health consulting company.
The two co-founders’ love of fashion sparked their idea to launch the clothing brand. They also sought to solve a clothing fit issue encountered within the fashion industry.
For plus-size shoppers, finding the right look can be discouraging and difficult, Mobley and Blessing said.
Many fashion brands only offer traditional women’s sizes up to 16 or 18. Plus-size brands are also limited, with few offering garments beyond size 24.
“We want to do the whole range of sizes because our issue has always been if we can find things that fit — it’s online,” Blessing said. “If the stores do offer it, it’s upstairs next to the bathrooms and the clothes are falling off the rack.
“The plus size section is just very depressing,” she said. “If we go shopping with our thinner friends and we go into a store that has all sizes, we’re relegated to a corner. Or we have to go to the accessories wall, if they don’t have our size.”
To construct the clothing brand’s sizing chart, Mobley and Blessing posted an advertisement on social media looking for fit models of all shapes, sizes and genders willing to share their measurements and try on clothing samples.
A fit model is a person who works with a clothing designer or manufacturer to check visual appearance and fit of clothing designs.
“The response we got was overwhelming,” Blessing said. “Within just a few weeks, we had over twenty fit models. We’re now up to almost fifty fit models of all genders.
“People were like, ‘We are so excited that this is in Spokane, and we want to support you.’”
Mobley and Blessing sew clothing items from home, but also work out of an office in the Crescent Executive Suites, 707 W. Main Ave., in downtown Spokane.
“Sometimes when we’re in the design phase of a garment, we’ll go home, sew a sample and have a model come in and try it on,” Mobley said. “We’ll use that fitting to perfect the pattern. Then, we’ll set up a final try-on again and make sure that it’s perfect. It’s a long process, but we do all of that right here.”
Mobley and Blessing are constantly working on new designs and are planning to add a T-shirt dress, belts and pants to dom+bomb’s clothing collection.
They aim to create garments that customers can layer or mix and match.
Mobley and Blessing evaluate market research, read articles and attend trade shows, webinars and seminars to gain insight into fashion trends and conceptualize designs.
“We collect all of that information and that informs us on what our next thing should be,” Mobley said. “So, it’s not just our conversations and just our designs. We keep our ear to the ground.”
Mobley and Blessing plan to open a brick-and-mortar boutique later this year.
