A Fat Lad at The Back - Leading the Pack
Exercising can be difficult to start with at the best of times, and as a fat person it’s made all the trickier when it comes to finding the appropriate gear. Very few outlets and brands provide decent exercise clothes for fat bodies, and other than pure aversion to catering to a fatter audience, it’s hard to see why not. Luckily, where there’s a gap in the market there’s eventually going to be someone to fill it and that someone is Fat Lad At the Back – or FLAB for short – who specialises in exercise gear for fat men and women.
FLAB specialise in exercise clothes that are made especially with fat bodies in mind, rather than being oversized versions of what other brands produce. Initially, they focused on cycling gear for men but have since extended to include women’s clothes and incorporated triathlon and running gear to their products.
The items in the men’s range range go up to 54/58 inch chest and 60/64 inch waist, while the ladies’ sizes max out at 50 inch bust, 46 inch waist and 55 inch hips – roughly equivalent to a UK size 24/26. The comprehensive sizing guide on the site should make it easy to find the clothes that fit comfortably. As company founder Richard Bye put it when speaking to The Guardian, “Lycra is designed to stretch, to become a second skin. [...] It's designed to stretch around you, which is why you look like a shrink-wrapped chicken if you're anything other than a skinny whippet.”
As the name and acronym suggests, this is a company with a particular jovial swagger, with their products separated into “Lads” and “Lasses”, and the range for large chests having the apt name “Spare Tyre”. FLAB’s easy-going, jokey attitude might be an initial turn-off to some, but the company does appear to be genuine in their intentions to provide quality cycling gear specifically tailored for big men and women. The exercise and fashion industries have both spent a long time ignoring fat people as customers, and it’s great to see that companies like FLAB are picking up their slack, and finding success while doing so.
Rikard Olsson is a plus size male model and writer based in Birmingham, UK
Twitter: @RockyDennis
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