Chaela Perinchief laughs whenever she’s asked about plus-size styles.

She doesn’t think companies design clothing that celebrates the shape of women size 16 and up.

But it’s something she’s looking to change.

“We exist too,” said the local designer, who is hoping to improve “the way Bermuda looks at plus-size fashion” through her company, Lunar Soul.

“People don’t want to hide in tons of clothing. They want to express themselves, their shape and body type.”

The 24-year-old has been designing since she was 15. She will debut her first 12 looks at the Bermuda Fashion Festival next week.

“Industry standard is a bit skewed. It could start at a size 12, but I feel like 12 is an average-size woman,” she said.

“I’m a plus-size woman myself; it’s very hard to find what I’m looking for. The industry is big enough for all different types of ideas, so why not contribute mine.”

Plus-size clothing has historically been unstructured and tent-like but there is now a slow movement by designers around the world to create tailored pieces that show off the body, she said.

“Things that you can find for a smaller woman you can now find for a plus-size woman. That was unheard of a couple of years ago. We’re still struggling to this day, but we’ve come so far in the last few years.”

Ms Perinchief discovered a love for sewing and pattern-cutting at a community class at TN Tatem Middle School. She then got a bachelor’s degree from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

After some industry experience, she returned home.

“I was doing custom work to get a feeling for the environment in Bermuda. Once I knew where I wanted to take the brand, I decided to stop doing custom work altogether.

“This is the official launch of Lunar Soul. Everything is made by me in Bermuda.”

Nikki Ogunnaike, senior fashion editor at ELLE.com, was her appointed mentor for the upcoming festival.

“She’s helped me a lot with branding,” said Ms Perinchief. “We have a good connection; we mesh really well.”

She described her clothing as “bohemian, alternative, casual”.

“I don’t like to put the brand in a box,” she said. “It’s for the confident woman, a woman who likes to look bold, look different, play with her fashion sense and have fun.

“I’m a goth. I usually wear black, simple style, but I like a lot of textures.

“Sometimes I don’t have it in me to put a major wardrobe together so anything that’s easy to style that you can dress up or down paired with statement pieces, that’s what I’m about.

“[The name Lunar Soul] fits to my personality. I’m always up late working.”

She sources fabrics from “all over the world” for her line, and seldom uses colour. “I do have a print in the collection that has bits of colour in it, but you probably won’t ever see me using bright colours. That’s not my personality. You will see metallics, lace, fur, leather — things like that in my collection — beads and embellishments.

“There’s lots of texture and detail and really cool pieces for any fashion taste.

“Some pieces are really sexy, some pieces are a little more conservative, with just the right amount of sexiness, showing off curves, skin, cleavage.” Her plan was to give an “edgy look” to plus-size women.

“I want to push the confidence levels of plus-size women in Bermuda,” she said. “I want them to go outside of the box and be okay with their bodies and to love themselves. That’s the message I want to put out there.”

• Watch Ms Perinchief in the Local Designer Show next Friday at 6.30pm, Number 1 Car Park in Hamilton. For more information visit www.bermudafashionfestival.com or look for her on YouTube, MLQJhc22NHE, or Instagram, @lunarsoul_bda