Yumi Nu Says If Her Small Business Can Create Inclusive Clothing, There’s ‘No Excuse’ for Large Companies

The SI Swimsuit cover star launched her brand Blueki last year.

Yumi Nu.Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images

Yumi Nu knows there’s no excuse for large corporations with massive backing and budget that are still creating clothing in limited sizes.

The 2022 SI Swimsuit cover star founded her brand, Blueki, during the pandemic and launched it last year. In a recent TikTok, Nu spilled some fun facts about herself while getting ready and showing her go-to makeup process.

“Over the pandemic, I started an inclusive clothing line called Blueki, and I released it a few months ago,” the 26-year-old said. “The biggest thing I realized when starting Blueki is that if I, as a small self-funded business, can create clothing for all sizes, then there really is no excuse [for bigger brands].”

After being in the fashion industry for years and struggling to find trendy and sustainable pieces for plus-size people, Nu took matters into her own hands.

“It became more and more obvious to me that there was this huge gap in fashion for mid and plus-sized customers. Usually, you can find something fashionable, but you have to ignore the fact that someone overseas is making less than $2,” she explained in an interview with Vogue. “On the other hand, you have ethically-made fashion, but it costs a bit more and the styles are terrible. I wanted to make pieces that I couldn’t find for myself.”

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Nu added that most plus-size brands stop at 3X and her goal is to create “all the things that have been missing” for herself over the years.

The singer-songwriter released her first EP, Hajime, last year and now lives in New York, where she is pursuing music, modeling and entrepreneurship full-time. 

“I did commercial modeling for many years. But everything changed when I signed with my current agency,” she said. “The last few years I was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Vogue and a few others that changed my life. I love modeling and I think it’s an amazing job.”

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