As a professional basketball player, former city resident Kayla Alexander, who attended Barrie Central Collegiate, doesn’t spend much time contemplating her work attire.
Off the court is an entirely different matter.
As far back as Alexander can remember, fashion options simply didn’t measure up – pun intended – to her stature.
“I remember my mother telling me when I was in the second grade people thought I was a teacher’s assistant … like how crazy is that?” said the now six-foot-four two-time Olympian. “Then my mom jokes that at the age of eight my shoe size grew with my age, so when I was nine I was wearing size nine, when I was 10 I was wearing size 10.”
“The struggle (to find clothes that fit) has always been there," added Alexander.
Those fashion frustrations met with a watershed moment during the height of the pandemic, when – while playing in Belgium – a call to lifelong friend Nicole Murphy opened the door to an ambitious business endeavour.
“She said I’m so sick and tired of not being able to find clothes that fit. How do you deal with this?... because I’m the tallest friend she has,” said Alexander, who along with an eight-year tenure in the WNBA has competed in nearly a dozen different countries and will be off to Spain later this year.
She was first introduced to the sport by Murphy at age 12 in Barrie. “I said ‘welcome to the club.’”
Their shared struggles soon turned to thoughts of rectifying the situation.
The initial idea was to start up their own brand, but a lack of designers wasn’t really the problem.
“We did some research and realized there are actually a lot of tall brands out there, they’re just small businesses, small women-owned businesses,” said 33-year-old Alexander, who served as an ambassador for The Tall Boutique and did a lot of initial prep work for her own clothing venture while playing in France. “So we decided to create a marketplace where we partner with all these tall brands and put them in one (online) location where it’s easier for women to discover these tall brands.
“It just makes the shopping experience more easily accessible for tall women. And it gives those tall brands more visibility.”
Thus Tall Size was born.
The online store has enjoyed plenty of great feedback and built a strong customer base since opening. But still one piece of the puzzle was missing – the in-person shopping experience.
Murphy and Alexander are in the midst of adding that, with an eight-city pop up store tour that – through partnering with Makeway – arrives in Toronto Sept. 13-14 at Makespace, located at 83 Walnut Ave.
This follows stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix and Austin, Tex.
“It’s gone really well. Every time the women walk in the door they’re in shock because they’re not used to walking in a store knowing that everything is designed to fit them,” said Alexander. “Unfortunately, the fashion industry continues to ignore tall women.”
Alexander admits Tall Size has been a major, sometimes frustrating “learn as we do it” enterprise, but one where Murphy’s marketing background and plenty of support from fellow tall women has been hugely beneficial.
Now added to the pop-up store experience is a VIP night (already sold out for Sept. 13) where customers can coordinate with professional stylists – like Toronto’s Melani Chong – to help discover their personal style.
Tall women looking to visit the pop up store on the Saturday (from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) can sign up at Tall Size, which Alexander notes includes everything along the fashion spectrum – from dresses and business outfits to casual wear and shoes – and hyper specific size charts.
“We try to be as inclusive as possible. When you have clothes that fit you properly and you feel good in it helps build your confidence. It helps you feel seen and valued again.
“I love that Nicole and I are part of the solution. We’re changing the narrative. All shapes and sizes are beautiful.”
