The lack of high-quality clothes that fit petite women has always been a problem in Nieves’ life. For her, shopping is more like “hunting” since nothing fits properly, most everything must be extremely altered, has more petroleum than a diesel car (acrylic, polyester, spandex, you name it), or was made by an exploited adult or child without health insurance.
Then one day, she was determined to find a winter coat at Rue de Courcelles, in her neighborhood in Paris in the 17th arrondissement. She thought, with so many boutiques in one street, “I will for sure find something”. But how wrong she was.
All she found was acrylic, polyester, made in God Knows Under Which Working Conditions, and instead of wearing the coats she tried on, the coats wore her. She ended up purchasing an Italian parka filled with goose feathers; at least she would be warm.
Nevertheless, she was determined to find something great, so after recovering from so many staggering failed trials, she decided to give Rue de Faubourg St. Honoré a try, also since her office was also there, so not far from her beloved neighborhood in the 17th.
She was warmly welcomed by a sales assistant, served juice, and treated like royalty; alterations were offered on site! She was so happy and willing to invest 2,500 euros for a beautiful winter coat. However, the coats were not very beautiful on her. They were also kind of wearing her, even the size 32 (and she is not even super skinny). But oh well, she was willing to turn a blind eye on a coat that was slightly baggy because it was “iconic”.
But the huge problem was the sleeves; they were around 4cm too long. The sales assistant offered a complimentary alteration that would be ready in a few days. Nieves was a happy camper! (although she has never camped). In this jolly mood, Nieves asked for the extra 4cm to be cut, and the sales assistant said they could only shorten them 1cm centimeter otherwise it would change the design of the coat. Nieves was paralyzed.
For 2500 euros they could not even shorten the sleeves more than 1cm?
And that is when she realized that she would never be the ideal size in the fashion world. That she would always be second best, well actually more like 4th best since accordion to fashion it’s:
1st place: tall and skinny
2nd place: tall not so skinny (also known as “normal”)
3rd place: plus size (and they are supposed to be tall)
4th place: short women, (unless you are Vanessa Paradis or Natalie Portman).
So with this in mind, she decided to create a new universe and named it KURSSEL.