Lisa Lockwood
6 min read
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.
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“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.
