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Dec 3, 2013, 3:02pm PST

Curvy Girl lingerie capitalizes on Fit Mom fat-shaming controversy

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Nathan Donato-Weinstein: Real Estate Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal; Email | Twitter

Sales at San Jose plus-size lingerie shop Curvy Girl spiked after owner Chrystal Bougon found herself in the middle of a national fat-shaming controversy.
"It's crazy," Bougon said. "Over the weekend, we did $2,000 in sales online both Saturday and Sunday. A normal day is $300."
Curvy Girl started gaining attention several weeks ago, when the 14-month-old shop initiated a “regular woman” campaign encouraging customers to share photos of themselves in lingerie on the store’s blog.
It didn’t take long for Maria Kang, the so-called “Fit Mom” whose own hardbody portrait went viral earlier in the year, to react to the Curvy Girl campaign. On her own blog, Kang wrote: “We need to change this strange mentality we are breeding in the U.S. and start celebrating people who are a result of hard work, dedication and discipline.” The face-off caught fire in recent days when both women appeared on CNN.
The story has legs: I spoke to Bougon this afternoon as she waited for news crews from "Good Morning America" to arrive at her 1,000-square-foot shop, at 1535 Meridian Ave. in Willow Glen.
Bougon said she’s less interested in confronting Kang and more interested in helping plus-size women see themselves as beautiful: “I believe all bodies are imperfectly perfect,” she said.
Opening the store satisfied a lifelong dream to help other women like her feel great about their bodies, she said. Bougon spent more than a decade in high tech until she was laid off after the dot-com bust. Bougon pivoted, starting her own "pleasure party" business, introducing women to the world of adult toys.