In fact, Joseph had already begun to lay the groundwork for promoting ready-to-wear clothing before this Fashion Week.
For instance, he made special requests to the designers participating in Fashion Week—asking them to avoid the then-common style of distinct shaping at the chest, waist, and hips during their design process, and instead to approach a smoother transition at the waistline.
Because clothing that emphasizes the chest, waist, and hips—skirts, in particular—has very strict size requirements: two people of similar height and weight can't exchange clothes just because of slight differences in the distance between their chest and waist.
By switching to a smooth transition style, they could produce the same garments for them based on standard sizes.
