The Free Body Apparel Story: How It All Began

Most clothing is designed for bodies that behave predictably. Mine never did.

The Free Body Apparel story began because I needed clothing that worked on hard days—days shaped by chronic pain, IBS, abdominal swelling, and the quiet negotiation that happens every morning when getting dressed already feels like too much. I wasn’t looking to start a fashion brand. I was looking for relief, dignity, and clothes that didn’t ask my body to perform.

The idea stayed with me because it came from lived experience. I wanted clothing that felt soft and flexible, that allowed room for change, that didn’t punish you for needing comfort. Clothing that respected the body you woke up in that day, not the one you wish you had.

I was talking through this idea with my friend and local boutique owner, Kristina, explaining what I wanted to build and why it mattered. Somewhere in that conversation, she mentioned that Magic—the massive retail market where shop owners source inventory—was happening in Las Vegas the same weekend I planned to be there. At the time, I had no idea what Magic even was. Once she explained it, something clicked. If I was going to stand behind clothing, I needed to touch it, feel it, and know it worked for real bodies. Cute and trendy wasn’t enough. Comfort had to be the baseline.

I also planned to design my own product and assumed retailing clothing could help fund that process. Alongside Magic was a sourcing event focused on helping people start clothing lines, complete with manufacturers and textile vendors from around the world.

It felt like momentum.

Naturally, I thought it would be straightforward... it wasn't.

I didn’t have a business entity, an EIN, a website, or business cards—everything required to even walk through the doors. I scrambled to file paperwork, apply for an EIN, and build something that resembled a legitimate business, only to still be denied entry. Persistence eventually got me into the sourcing event and, later, into Magic itself, but nothing about the process was smooth or predictable.

Once I was in, everything changed. I spent hours touching fabric, asking questions, and learning what mattered and what didn’t. Some vendors wouldn’t speak to me without a website. Others welcomed me anyway. I left overwhelmed, exhausted, and completely certain that this was work worth doing.

Back home, I followed up cautiously, built relationships slowly, and learned where to be careful. Around the same time, our family relocated across the country for my husband’s job. Life became fuller and louder. Progress slowed, but it didn’t stop. It simply moved forward in quieter, steadier ways.

Over the next year, I balanced raising my kids, selling a house, moving, working, and building Free Body Apparel piece by piece. I earned my real estate license and completed enough transactions to fund my first production run. Along the way, I partnered with nonprofits, completed a service dog giveaway for someone with a rare disease, and advocated for rare disease awareness at the state level.

Exactly one year after the idea first took hold, my first clothing product was finished and ready for purchase!

Free Body Apparel exists because comfort shouldn’t be an afterthought, and bodies dealing with chronic conditions deserve more than workarounds. Our ethos is simple: design clothing that listens to the body, honors change, and offers ease without asking for explanation.

This brand wasn’t built quickly. It was built intentionally, imperfectly, and with respect—for the people who wear it and the bodies they live in every day.

That’s the foundation. Everything else grows from there.