Editor’s note: As you know, we work hard for the plus size community. That includes championing the designers, makers, and creators who are building real things for us. I stopped scrolling when I came across Holly Clinton and her brand FOKE. A trained artist, a BRCA2 carrier, and a woman who chose to live flat and built an entire clothing brand around the reality of her body, her story is the kind that deserves to be told. I reached out to Holly and invited her to share it in her own words. And I was so happy that she said yes. This is for every woman who’s ever felt like fashion wasn’t made with them in mind.
Holly Clinton, FOKE Founder
If we were sitting together and I asked you where you were fork The origins don’t start with cancer. I would like to start with color.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved pattern and color. I grew up in a creative family. There, there are always art supplies on the table and someone is making something. I studied art at university and started studying surface pattern design again in my 30s. I couldn’t ignore my love for prints and textiles. I have always seen the world in shapes, lines, patterns, and colors.
I’m going to run today forkis a print-driven lifestyle label from Australia’s Macedon Ranges that creates bold, comfortable clothing for plus-size women, including those who have chosen to live flat after mastectomies.
The story behind FOKE
When my sister Amber’s breast cancer returned, I put pattern work aside to help care for her. Family came first. The sketchbook is closed. The design was waiting. Creativity never went away, it just flowed into loving and caring for those around you.
In 2018, our family underwent BRCA2 testing and discovered that my sister, father, and I all carry the genetic abnormality. As I carried my 8-month-old baby on my hip, I thought I was just there for support until a routine exam revealed an 8cm DCIS in my left breast.
What followed was a blur of appointments, scans, surgeries and tears. Amid all the complexity, my decision was simple. I wanted to be here to watch my daughter grow up. That way, the choice became clear, even if it wasn’t easy.
I had a double mastectomy. The decision not to reconstruct during surgery was based on medical judgment at the time. Then, when rebuilding was an option, I chose not to pursue it. I felt more secure living in a flat than going through further surgeries in pursuit of a shape that others felt comfortable with. So I stayed flat; fork It was ultimately born out of that reality.
Dressing up your transformed body: What FOKE does right
Before surgery, I was already dealing with common complaints about plus-size fashion: irregular sizing, limited options, and boring styles targeted at older women. After the surgery, my body changed again. In a world where most clothes and most ideas of femininity are quietly designed around the breasts, I was now plus size and flat.
The neckline was not the same. The soft fabric feels different. Without a bust, my stomach felt more pronounced with certain cuts. I don’t wear a prosthetic leg. They feel different from me. I mean, my flat chest is part of how I move through the world, and my wardrobe has to work with that reality.
This is what I’m looking for now and what I’m incorporating into everything fork piece:
- A high or gently scooped neckline that doesn’t collapse or open up.
- The fabric is a thin jersey on the chest that has a bit of weight, drape, and doesn’t cling.
- Cuts that skim rather than grip, especially near the center.
- Shoulder and arm shape allows for free movement
It’s not about hiding anything. That means you can continue living comfortably and safely.
Overcoming sadness and finding FOKE
Life was not easy for several years after the surgery. I lost Amber. Two years later, I lost a close friend. Then I lost my stepfather Lee, Anker, and everything about me. Losing them has changed me a lot, but I’m still learning to live with it.
But grief also inspired me to stop sleepwalking through my own life. I started asking harder questions about how I spend my time, what actually matters, and what kind of example I’m setting for my daughter. It’s really there fork It comes not only from loving colors and patterns, but also from not wasting the life that has been given to me.
After Amber passed away in 2020, I bought an iPad and started drawing again. At first, it was just a few moments on the couch at night, a few minutes on the way to and from school, while something meaningless was playing on the TV. Gradually, it stopped being a coping mechanism and became a practice. The pattern is back. My colors have become bolder. I felt like I had picked up a part of myself that I had forgotten for a long time.
Those paintings became works of art and now live in everything. fork piece.
What FOKE offers women
From the outside, fork Looks like colorful clothing labels, bold artwork, saturated colors, and laid-back silhouettes. From my perspective, it’s more personal.
I will make it fork Clothes for women who live real lives. Schoolwork, work, compassion, curveballs, big emotions, big hopes. Some have scratches, some don’t. Some are plus size, some are not. What they have in common is that they overdress to fit trends and other people’s ideas of what looks good. They want items that feel like them and breathe life into them.
Comfort comes first fork. If the fabric is itchy, sticks in the wrong places, or has difficulty moving, it won’t be included in the collection. Think school drop-offs, long drives, office chairs, hospital visits, and dancing in the kitchen. Clothes need to work there before they can work anywhere else.
Then I layered the art. every fork Printing begins by drawing on an iPad or sketchbook without having a stock pattern. I’m really curious about what goes on in your head when you wear something noisy. A powerful print can change the way you carry yourself, how much you stand out and how much of your true personality you let out.
I live in a flat, plus-size body, so that awareness is quietly sewn into everything. fork design. I pay attention to how the neckline sits when there’s no bust, how the front of the dress falls when my figure doesn’t match the standard block, and how secure I feel when I slouch in the park. fork We’re not just for women living in flats, we never forget who we are.
FOKE as a legacy
The work I do now is my legacy to Amber and Lee. You can’t change what happened, but you can decide what to do with the time you’re given. building forkusing my art to live as fully as I can, and raising my daughter to recognize normal color and courage, and that’s how I carry them with me now.
My story explains why fork It exists as a natural result of what I have always been: a trained artist and pattern designer who grew up in a creative family and chose to experience difficult things and turn them into something useful and beautiful.
In other words, you can live a big, colorful, honest life that’s all about you. fork It’s just a way for me to assist you while you’re chasing it.
Holly Clinton is its founder forkis an Australian print-driven lifestyle label that creates bold, comfort-first pieces for real bodies, including plus-size women and those living with a flat after a mastectomy. With a background in fine art and pattern design, she channels her experiences of loss and life into work that guides women toward intentional living and invites play, curiosity, and joy. Search for FOKE foke.com.au And also on Instagram @foke_store.
Source: The Curvy Fashionista – thecurvyfashionista.com
