So this is what democracy looks like!
Sixteen years ago, Southern California-based clothing designer Caren Lettiere founded Democracy® Clothing to “empower women of all shapes and sizes through comfort, inclusivity and style.”
The Democracy Jeans line perfectly embodies this. By declaring “curve equality,” Lettiere says women’s bodies are all created equal. Her philosophy helps women feel confident, body positive, and part of a community.
This democracy denim founder also recently completed a four-city Democracy “Ab”solute Confidence Pop Up tour that gave away 1,000 pairs of brand new “Ab”solution® jeans for real women in each city.
When I heard that Las Vegas was the last stop (following Cincinnati, Austin and Jacksonville) on this Jean-apalooza, and that the size-inclusive clothing brand partnered with Unshakeable (a local Las Vegas nonprofit supporting women featured on The Women’s Eye) to collect dozens of pre-loved donated denim, I elected to pop in to the pop up!
Lettiere took a time out from all the try-ons to talk about her mission, popups, and the future of Democracy.
THE WOMEN’S EYE: This isn’t your first fashion rodeo. What led you to creating body-positive fashion with Democracy Clothing?
CAREN LETTIERE: I started a brand for the junior demographic called Jolt and Rewind 21 years ago, so, I’ve been doing this for a long time. But focusing on women who grew up with fashion, got busy with life and went on a rollercoaster journey of physiological life changes, the goal has always been to help women reconnect with their denim-wearing selves.
Women kind of stop wearing jeans at some point because they’re tight, they’re uncomfortable, and they have no clue what their size is. So, women often say, “I’m on a weight loss journey. I’m gonna wait till I try this on.”
EYE: Was this clothing line personal as well?
CAREN: It was [inspired by] my post-baby body and creating designs for a younger demographic that were not available to me in my size. And whenever I found a pair of jeans that fit and I wanted a new pair, it looked just like the old pair, so, it didn’t feel new. If I wanted to try something for fashion, I’d have to switch to another brand. It would be a bad fit experience to get the right fashion shape.
and Dr. Kate Zhong (r)
EYE: What do curve-friendly jeans represent?
CAREN: This is a generational brand. It’s literally for women of all ages and all sizes. No one puts an expiration date on the Democracy woman. She is vital and vibrant, and as long as she’s open and interested in wearing fashion, we are here to provide comfortable, amazing fashion. We also want to let her know that she’s always relevant and welcome and thought of in our design room, whether we know you by name today or we’re going to meet you tomorrow.
You’re in our thoughts, you’re in our mind. You’re in our hearts. It’s so gratifying to come here and to be validated by women expressing exactly what I hope that they would be thinking and feeling. We have something for every single woman and there’s something that happens when a woman who hasn’t been wearing jeans puts them on.
EYE: Why go on the road and give away free denim?
CAREN: What we do is we get women back into denim and back into fashion and that’s a totally gratifying experience. Doing the popups is our entire team’s passion. If you think I’m passion fueled, everybody here goes toe to toe with me. We love rolling into town; embedding ourselves in the community; getting to know the amazing women supporting all of the female-owned businesses; and bringing female vendors into our events.
EYE: Why do you focus on female-led businesses?
CAREN: We’re all about female empowerment. Women have agency. We have the ability to support industry on our own. We don’t require outside help if we recognize our power and our voice. And we all have friends who respect us that come to us for advice. We love that kind of sisterhood experience.
We love the community that happens in the dressing rooms where people are trying on jeans in public. Then, we get to give back to organizations that prop up and support women, like Unshakeable.
EYE: What advice do you have for women who want to follow your lead?
CAREN: The advice that I have is, “Say yes!” I was a political science major. I don’t have a design background. I started in sales. When I started doing denim, it was the antithesis of all the storied, classical denim traits. All denim brands look the same. You can recognize a brand because it never changes.
Photo: @lotusvalentinevisuals
A Democracy jean has its own character and its own unique personality because it’s reflective of the personality and uniqueness of all women. When I started doing that, everybody said, “Oh, that’s not how denim is made.” But now we are the sixth largest denim brand in the country, so we’ve really impacted the industry.
Also, you don’t have to be trained or educated in anything that you have passion to pursue. You just have to have purpose, tenacity and the audacity to assume that whatever you set your mind to you can accomplish and you have to be willing to take chances.
The best thing about what I created is that there are so many amazing people who started on the ground level whose careers have been shaped…as a result of this venture.
The other thing that I would say: I have been able to create a brand that’s a seed for my soul, based on my perception about what is needed with the full support, weight and financing of an amazing company with leaders who believed in my vision and continue to do things that are unorthodox to support the growth of the brand.
EYE: What does your future look like?
CAREN: I am looking forward to seeing how big this can go; how many butts we can put in jeans; and how much joy we can put in women’s hearts. I spent so much of my life career-focused, and I always said I want to give back electively, but I never made the time for it.
This is like my swan song where I’m making sure that whatever we do, we recognize everybody. If they feel confident, if they have a pair of jeans that they can zip up and feel good in, they can conquer whatever demons are out there and whatever challenges that they’re experiencing. We just want to keep paying it forward.
EYE: Caren, thank you for introducing me to Democracy Jeans! I love how flattering they are. They got my vote!
6-8 more Democracy® Clothing pop-ups are planned for 2026 in Phoenix, SLC, Charlotte, Denver, Minneapolis and more!
Photos Courtesy Democracy® Clothing unless identified
To Follow Democracy Clothing:
Website: democracyclothing.com
Instagram: instagram.com/democracyclothing
Facebook: facebook.com/democracyjeans
YouTube: @democracyclothing
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