Large-size store offers free clothing for Los Angeles County fire evacuators

When Debbie Henry evacuated her Altadena home in early January, she packed enough clothes to spend a weekend.

This is the last three times she evacuated due to the threat of wildfires. Every time she returns home within a few hours. But this time it’s different.

Overnight, the Eaton Fire destroyed the residence Altadena, which included Fair Oaks Avenue where Henry lived with her husband and granddaughter. A heroic next door neighbor saved her house, but a few weeks later she was still waiting for an insurance assessment and a green light to go home – she desperately needed more clothes.

Henry tried several donation centers, but at each center, she had to dig a bunch of clothes until she found her figure. Even then, most of the debris were stained, torn or otherwise unwilling.

Then a friend told her about the Qurves boutique.

This large-sized clothing store is located in a group of car stores in Burbank, usually targeting affordable prices of 10-26. In early January, as store owner Olivia Pyle began making clothing donations to help the larger-sized fire victims restore their wardrobe to their former glory.

“I saw the demand,” the 25-year-old entrepreneur said. Shopping as a large size person is hard enough; adding necessity to the equation, and suddenly, you bought it from the bottom of the barrel. Pyle wants to give people a different experience, and they can choose from the clean, stylish choices they know.

“People have lost their homes, not dignity,” she said. “They should be able to choose.”

The unexpected donation allows Pyle to choose the items she accepts. Once she quality-checked the sizes and types and sorted them, she added her draft pick to a very well-curated exhibition that when Henry entered the Qurves in late January, she almost Unable to tell where the donation ends, the regular stock of the store begins.

Henry told Pyle that she was shopping for her 14-year-old granddaughter Amyiah, who was shyly behind her. “But if you have something, too,” she said with a smile.

As the two browsed the metal rack, Henry stopped from time to time, asking Amyiah to read the price, Pyle reminded them – as she reminded dozens of other customers, they didn’t have to be modest. She has enough donations.

Olivia Pyle has set up an endowment center in her store, Qurves Boutique, Burbank, which opens fire for victims in Los Angeles County in search of larger-sized clothing and shoes.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Finally, Henry wore pajamas, two shirts and a pullover sweater, as well as a T-shirt and a distressed denim jacket. Once everything calms down, they promise Pyle and they will come back.

After an hour of visit with Debbie Milley and her daughters Amanda and Sarah Milley, Pyle got the same promise a week ago.

Milleys rented an Altadena home in the Eaton Fire for more than two years. After not receiving the emergency alarm, they saw the neighbors fleeing, taking them away with only the uno card (Sarah), a laptop (Amanda) and three pets.

They think they will come back within a week. On January 18, Los Angeles County Public Works inspected its property and announced its “overall structural loss.” Government documents, clothes, hearing aid supplies for Amanda – they are all lost by the flames.

Debbie and Amanda are lucky to buy clothes at a local donation center, but Sarah, with Down syndrome, struggles to find items that fit her tall 4-foot-10-inch frame.

In an early message from Pyle’s Instagram, Amanda tagged Sarah’s ratio and added that her sister likes bright colors. A few days later, when they visited Qurves, they were welcomed by the entire Pyle shelf, her mother, Stacey Pyle (flying from Utah to help donate), just picked for Sarah.

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1. Jeans on display in Qurves Boutique. Burbank stores are usually in an affordable way to target sizes from 10-26. 2. Qurves’ various shoes. Olivia Pyle, owner, said she hopes fire victims who need clothing and shoes can choose from clean, stylish options they know. 3. A fire victim filled the bag with clothes and chose a pair of shoes at Qurves. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“They are very broad,” Amanda said, which makes sense given Pyle’s professional styling experience. Every time Sarah tries a new ensemble, “it’s like a small fashion show. She’ll spin and everything.”

Since their evacuation, Sarah has been talking about what she missed out on her old things: butterfly rings, red dresses, Olivia Rodrigo T-shirts, Amanda said. She tried to understand that they did disappear.

Now, “She has something new to attach,” Amanda said, including a bright red dress that looks a lot like the one she left behind.

She said Peel plans to offer free shopping to victims by February 15. After that, she will focus on giving the remaining stock a new home – a La Vintage store Quirk, which may have launched a similar initiative to Quirves in early January.

Or maybe she would spread the debris, she said, “to make sure there are larger sizes everywhere, especially where it can rise more permanently.”

Then, in late February, she will celebrate the first anniversary of Qurves in Burbank. She hopes many repeated visitors join.