Sunday, October 19, 2003

By LaMont Jones, Post-Gazette Fashion Editor

If the United States were to crown a queen of plus-size fashion, Catherine Schuller might leave other contenders looking like pretenders to the throne.

The Pittsburgh native has decades of experience modeling in, designing for, writing about and consulting in the plus-size industry. And this Wednesday, she'll appear in 85 million homes with the QVC network debut of her new line of figure-flattering women's apparel.

"Shape Shopping by Catherine Schuller," which airs 9-10 a.m., is a milestone for Schuller.

"It's a culmination of a lot of stuff I've worked on for many years," she said. "It's all kind of come together with everything I've done to really symbolize me being able to help women figure out what I figured out: 'What looks good on me?' "

Fashion wasn't much on Schuller's mind as a young woman. She studied psychology, music and drama at Chatham College. When she graduated in 1975, her career goal was to become a music therapist.

But that changed after a trip to New York with her then-boyfriend, drummer Bill O'Connor of Green Tree. They looked in the Village Voice classified ads and saw lots of ads for drummers. So Schuller encouraged O'Connor, whose gigs were frat parties and the like, to pursue drumming as a career.

He was invited to join Blondie and played with the popular punk band for three years, ultimately making his parents happy by returning to school and becoming a chemical engineer.

But for Schuller, the Big Apple was too delicious to resist.

She began traveling to New York regularly, and people often asked if she were a model. She moved there in 1977 and began studying acting.

"I learned very quickly," she said. "Follow your dream."

As she began to explore modeling, the 5-foot-9-inch, 140-pound Schuller was told she was too big and needed to lose weight. Instead, she took advantage of her thin face to do some corporate videos, commercials, trade show stand-ups and print modeling.

"Losing dozens of pounds wasn't in my makeup," she said.

One day in 1982, someone recommended that she consider plus-size modeling, a genre of which she was unaware. Within a year, she had signed with the Plus Models agency in Manhattan -- "They hired me as soon as I walked in" -- and modeled as a size 12 or 14 for eight years. After that, she modeled for Ford Models until the mid-'90s.

Theater experience and four years as a stand-up comic helped Schuller, and she eventually realized that plus-size was "a huge market."

"I realize this is about self-esteem, worth and recognition, not just clothes," she said.

She took an image-consulting course at the city's Parsons School of Design in 1992-93 and began to learn about how best to dress different body types, a fashion issue relevant to every woman.

"It wasn't just slimming tips, but balance, proportion, design and line. Then I started going out and speaking to women. I was providing them with solutions, giving them information. And they understood it."

She and Suzan Nanfeldt, a friend from the Parsons class, created Emerging Vision Enterprises in 1994 and together wrote the book "Plus Style: The Plus Size Guide to Looking Great." Two years later, Schuller wrote the "Ultimate Plus Size Modeling Guide."

"It took me that long to believe I could do it," she said. "I did it because I was helping women with wardrobing, and they always wanted to know how to break into modeling. I couldn't cover both topics at an event, and I wanted to stay on the topic of wardrobing and not modeling."

Schuller and Nanfeldt created a program called "Fashion Can Flatter," working with private boutiques and department store chains such as Nordstrom, Federated and May to attract female customers to image workshops and fashion events.

MODE, a magazine that was forming to target plus-size women, hired Schuller in 1997. As fashion retail editor of the publication, she helped stage events across the country for four years.

"That was the perfect job for me," she recalled, chuckling. "Plus sizes, psychology, stand-up and public speaking."

The mag job led to stints as a spokeswoman for such brands as Talbot's Woman, Lane Bryant and Just My Size. And the vivacious Schuller, who had served as president of the New York chapter of the Association of Image Consultants International, was chosen to launch the Emme line in fall 2001 at Lord & Taylor.

MODE folded after the October 2001 issue, and Schuller teamed with business associate Darren Trentacosta to create a production company, CurveStyle: Reshaping Fashion. The following March, with Absolut and Just My Size as sponsors, the company staged a runway fashion show in New York for plus sizes featuring 25 high-end designers.

In May, Schuller launched Figure & Fit, a new in-store retail program, at Saks Fifth Avenue's Manhattan flagship store. The program helps women figure out their body type and what clothing best suits them.

Her philosophy continued to evolve from a focus on figure and fit to what she calls "shape shopping." The concept is garment selection for six body types in two categories, "waists" and "waists not."

"Shape Shopping" is summed up in Schuller's slogan, "Know your shape, show your shape." It's part of her philosophy of "applied fashion," addressing women's style needs beyond apparel and accessory trends.

Another of her mantras -- "Cling, cinch or hide and you just look wide; skim, hug or drape, and you show your shape." -- highlights the importance of identifying clothing that corresponds with and flatters a woman's overall body shape.

Not surprisingly, Schuller's progressive thinking and industry experiences led her to design. But she doesn't see herself as a designer, rather, a "connector and conceptualizer" who knows what looks good and tries to translate it into a clothing line.

QVC helped her find a manufacturer to develop the line in sizes 2 through 22 and will air another "Shape Shopping" show in March.

"I couldn't be more blessed," said Schuller. "I didn't have to come up with a million dollars to create this line myself."

Her QVC-related Web site, www.shapeshopping.com, is intended to reach women across the world with her ideas on reshaping fashion. Also, www.curve-style.com, launched at the Curve Style show in 2002, is a broader look that encompasses new and emerging fashion designers.

Schuller also has been influenced by the death of her husband, Mark Gruenwald, whom she married in 1992. He was a Marvel Comics executive who experienced a lot of stress and died after a heart attack in 1996.

"That taught me about taking advantage of opportunities," she said, "because life is short."

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