Pari Passu, a shape-based contemporary collection for women above size 12, is closing down its business, a victim of economic uncertainty and high tariffs from China. The move is effective June 2.

The brand, which means “on equal footing,” was founded by Shanna Goldstone eight years ago and sold at retailers such as nordstrom.com, bloomingdales.com, saks.com and ShopBazaar, Hearst Magazine’s online shop, as well as its own website, paripassushop.com.

“Given the economic climate and the tariff situation, I can’t move forward,” Goldstone said. She said the collection, which featured women’s tops, dresses, pants, skirts, jumpsuits, coats, jackets and toppers, was mostly manufactured in China.

Goldstone said she saw no other options in moving her production. “No, not at this point just because how capital intensive it is to produce in the U.S. With the tariffs on everything, it’s really difficult to get the materials that you need to keep going,” Goldstone said.

She explained, “Right now the current tariff is at 30 percent, but that’s 30 percent on top of the already existing tariffs, which in sportswear, can be anywhere between 24 and 32 percent, depending on the piece, plus there’s an additional tariff on fentanyl, so the total comes out to 70 percent.”

Pari Passu’s average retail price is between $200 and $300.

Goldstone said her office is in a factory in New York’s garment industry, and she has found that even their customers are having difficult getting materials overseas even though their production is here. “They’re having trouble bringing in fabric and everything else that they need,” she said.

Goldstone said her business was entirely focused on plus-size sportswear. She said she will stop taking orders on June 2.

Goldstone worked with just one other person, Jason Cauchi, who is her head of design.

Asked how she had been doing up until this point, she said, “I have a small independent company, to have made it this far, eight years in, including the pandemic…it’s never been easy, but I’ve had an incredibly loyal group of customers, especially with the type of sizing we do. It breaks my heart to take away an option from them since they have so little to begin with,” she said. She declined to say how much volume the brand generated.

The company started at size 12 and went to size 24, “but we did custom work up to 32,” she said. She said if someone ever wanted something bigger than what they offered, she would make it for them at no additional charge. “I was super dedicated to serving this customer in every and any way that I could,” she said.

As for what she hopes to do next, Goldstone said, “I’m not done. I love the business too much to be done with it.” She said she’ll consult for awhile and then see what comes of that.

Prior to starting her own firm, Goldstone worked in retail for the majority of her career. Her most recent role was as a retail brand consultant at Gensler, the architectural firm.

She said she named the firm Pari Passu because it’s a deal term usually used in contracts, which means “on equal footing.”

Describing why that name resonated with her, she said, “My goal was to offer plus-size women the same styles, the same quality and the same construction that straight-sized women have a gajillion options for.” She said department stores have shown so little interest in this customer, and would relegate plus-sizes to the back, or a very high floor in the store, before moving it completely online.

Goldstone previously worked as a retail consultant and art director of Melissa McCarthy’s short-lived plus-size collection. While researching the market, she realized that overall the industry’s sizing system wasn’t accurate for women size 12 and up, and companies were using outdated design and grading processes for plus-size garments. She said she had never worked with plus-sizes before, and did a deep dive into the market “and was floored by what I saw.” She found practically nothing, except at the low end of the market. With 68 percent of American women above a size 14, she was shocked at what was out there, “and it blew me away.” She said she couldn’t stop thinking and talking about it, and finally her husband encouraged her to start her own brand.

What made Pari Passu different from other brands was that they made clothes based on women’s shapes and not necessarily their size, she said.

Goldstone developed a fit system based on 7,500 3D body scans of her target customers to reflect the shapes of real women, and that not everything is an hourglass. From her research, she identified three distinct body shapes, which she coined Shape B, Shape C and Shape D (the curviest body type, the most underserved shape and the modified hourglass), with varying body proportions and specs for each. Goldstone then created an innovative shape-focused sizing system that includes seven sizes for each of the three body shapes — 21 sizes in total. She then developed an online fit tool powered by a proprietary algorithm so that customers can easily determine their Pari Passu fit.

“Our customer had an opportunity to get something that fit beautifully to their shape. I got a patent for this shape system, and I’m actively looking to license or sell the IP,” Goldstone said.

Goldstone said she was so busy running the business she didn’t have an opportunity to speak with anyone about selling it. “I was so focused on trying to figure out how to keep it going. As a two-person company, when you’re doing everything, there’s not a lot of time [to go out and find a buyer]. That’s like a full-time job. It’s like trying to raise money,” she said.

Pari Passu’s mission has remained consistent throughout its eight-year history. Back in 2019, when Pari Passu launched a deal with nordstrom.com, Goldstone told WWD, “At Pari Passu, we’re doing something radically different; designing clothes specifically for curvy bodies. Pari Passu levels the playing field. We’re building a brand for the forgotten majority, creating the kind of luxurious products and elevated shopping experience curvy women want and have long deserved.”