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Amber Seelig’s inspiration goes back to her childhood shopping at Nordstrom.
Growing up in Ballard, Amber Seelig would venture downtown as a teenager to shop at BP., Nordstrom’s iconic juniors brand. Unfortunately, there were very few options in her size, which often led to disappointment. “Shopping was always stressful, sometimes devastating,” she remembers.
That experience stuck with her, and in 2021, she and her sister Alyss founded Curvy Cactus, a curated resale boutique for plus-size fashion. After mainly selling at flea markets, in October 2024, they opened up a brick-and-mortar location in downtown Seattle through the Seattle Restored program, which repurposes empty storefronts with pop-up shops and art installations.
A pink elephant is the first sign that this isn’t an office space anymore.
Their shop caught the eye of Candace Frank, a fat liberation activist and clothing designer who had launched the brand Chub Rub in 2023. They began to collaborate. At a Curvy Cactus holiday market in late 2024, they all realized the office building they were in had more space than just the storefront the boutique was occupying. That led to a light-bulb moment: What if they created a mall focused on spotlighting fat-friendly vendors? In April 2025, Seattle Fat Mall opened its doors. (The four cofounders include the Seelig sisters, Frank, and Kwame Phillips-Solomon, also of Chub Rub.)
“This is a place where you don’t have to wonder if you’re going to find anything,” Frank says. “A common shopping experience for a fat person is to go somewhere, and maybe there’s only one thing that fits them in the whole place, and they don’t really like it, but they still buy it because whether or not this is the right thing, we all as humans need to feel like our actions led to something.”
The Curvy Cactus shop inside Seattle Fat Mall.
What was once the office space of a financial services company has been reimagined as a collection of colorful shops (some permanent residents and others pop-ups), spacious dressing rooms, and even a tattoo studio with rotating artists. The space caters to its shoppers in all kinds of ways, aside from the size of the clothing. The bathrooms are accessible and contain bidet attachments. A welcoming lounge area, painted in pastels, offers a comfy place to sit and rest—or make new friends. There are fans strategically placed to help keep people cool while browsing, and the website offers detailed directions on how to navigate getting there. The lighting is soft, and there are no strong scents. The art on the wall features bigger bodies, as do the cards used by the resident tarot reader.
The whole place was also designed with an eye toward accessibility. There are no steps, and there’s room for wheelchairs to come in the front door and down the hallway. Two days a month, masks are required—giving space for immunocompromised shoppers. “There’s a large intersection between disability and fatness—not that being fat is a disability, but there are a lot of disabled people who are also fat,” Frank says.
Candace Frank (center), joined forces with Alyss Seelig (left), Amber Seelig (right), and Kwame Phillips-Solomon (not pictured) to bring the Seattle Fat Mall to life.
Everyone is welcome at Seattle Fat Mall, but the founders ask that diet culture is dropped at the door. There are no mirrors designed to make you look smaller, no unsolicited health advice, and no brands that stop at an XL. The result has been what might be best dubbed as retail therapy in its highest form.
“People walk into the mall not sure what to expect,” Seelig says. “They immediately are greeted with large-size mannequins, clothes that go up to 6X, fat people at the counter. We regularly have people in tears, because they’ve never, ever been to a space like this that was created for them and centers them in every possible aspect that we can think of.”
Everything at Seattle Fat Mall is designed to make shoppers feel welcome.
Lynnwood-based Sass VanDusen stumbled upon Seattle Fat Mall when wandering around downtown with her husband. She was drawn in by the bright storefront and cute clothes on display. “I’m a bigger girl, so any opportunity to have a store where there’s a good chance I’ll find something that fits is a good leap to take,” she says. VanDusen was impressed by the vintage ’60s and ’70s selection and scored what’s become one of her favorite blazers.
“Everyone was really nice and welcoming,” she says. “I didn’t feel pressured, and it was nice to look at a piece and not be immediately disappointed it was a size small.”
Stickers, prints, and more: It’s not just clothes for sale.
The impact is clear from social media comments, where shoppers have written things like, “Going to the Fat Mall was one of the most healing experiences in all my life ❤️” and “It really does mean so much to walk in somewhere and actually have options.”
Given the general decline of malls and the uptick in people buying items online, is an in-person shopping experience still needed? The Seattle Fat Mall founders say that’s a crucial element of what they’ve created.
“There’s kind of this community aspect to it that you can’t really get online, and I feel like that’s really special,” Frank says. “That’s where the healing is—when you see somebody else try something in a body like yours, you might try it, too. Maybe you never would have tried a string bikini. I sell in my shop many string bikinis. Every day, string bikinis sell, and every day they sell, someone says to me, ‘I never thought I would wear a string bikini.’ It’s scary to buy something and spend your money and feel like you might be disappointed; it’s a lot less scary to put something on in a room by yourself and just give it a go.”
Alyss Seelig shows off a dress for sale.
To help foster the in-person community that people crave, the mall hosts a variety of events, such as a monthly Zodiac-based birthday party, seasonal fashion shows, and crafting get togethers.
In addition to clothing—including original designs and curated pieces—there are plenty of accessories, from full-figured torso earrings in every color of the rainbow (complete with stretch marks!) to greeting cards with sayings like “Loving myself is the greatest resistance.”
Seattle Fat Mall is open on Thursdays and Saturdays and will be in its current spot through December. They’re actively looking for another location to keep the magic going.
“There’s a lot of bad stuff in the world, but there’s nothing wrong here,” Frank says. “It’s a joyful space. Just good vibes, no haters, everyone’s super supportive.”
