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| | A Sea Change in Plus-Size Fashion (13th Aug 21 at 3:00am UTC) | | A Sea Change in Plus-Size Fashion
On Friday, the Philadelphia-based clothing retailer Anthropologie did something that would have been nearly unthinkable for an aspirational brand even a few years ago: It added a plus-size clothing line. The collection, which is now available online and in 10 of Anthropologie’s biggest stores, arrived complete with a New York City launch party, the support of plus-size social-media personalities, and plenty of sun-drenched photos. In other words, the launch was just like any major launch for an American fashion company. And that’s exactly why it’s so different.Get more news about cheap Plus Size Bottoms for women,you can vist 5xsize.com!
I’m excited about Anthropologie’s new line in a way that is, frankly, not journalistic. I’ve worn plus-size clothing my entire adult life, which means the overwhelming majority of fashion brands at any price level don’t make clothes that fit me. I’m in good company: Almost 70 percent of American women wear a size 14 or above. The past decade of fashion has given those women little evidence that things would materially improve, with most plus-size options still occupying fashion’s cheapest, most poorly made tier, and few high-quality options available beyond the simplest basics. But the new Anthropologie line has items that are interesting and fun. The garments are vibrant, like the striped, sailor-necked dresses and mustard-colored skirts with detailed embroidery.
This line appears to mark a sea change that’s much bigger than one clothing line. Plus-size shoppers have been complaining about being left out of fashion for ages, but with the advent of social media, their complaints have gained both specificity and momentum online. As brands like Victoria’s Secret have been forced to learn, consumers no longer accept whatever they’re given.
Brands’ responses to that pressure have been limited and fumbling, but it looks like Anthropologie might have done something that’s been genuinely rare so far: Get it mostly right, on a big and expensive scale. In an industry dedicated to keeping larger women at the margins, it feels like those women are finally starting to win.
When a mass-market American brand starts a plus-size line, the process often follows a script well known to the women the company’s intending to serve. First, the fashion press praises the company for its inclusivity as a set of T-shirts and jeans is unveiled. The line might include a few work-wear staples. If you’re lucky, the brand offers you a coat. After that, nothing happens. The clothes rarely arrive in brick-and-mortar stores. The offerings don’t expand much beyond neutrals and basics. The option to order the bigger sizes online disappears into a list hidden in a drop-down menu, if it’s labeled at all. Buying plus-size clothes from these collections becomes an inscrutable online treasure hunt, and the pot of gold is a navy-blue T-shirt. Brands cite poor sales as a reason not to expand their line.
Fashion brands’ recent, mostly half-hearted attempts at entering the plus-size market suggest a certain amount of fear on the part of those running the industry. American culture doesn’t like fat people very much, and what if courting larger shoppers will make their stores seem uncool? For retailers that do much of their business in malls, those assumptions can make size expansion seem like an intolerable risk in an environment where many of them are struggling to find consumers in the first place. (None of the half-dozen mass-market American clothing retailers contacted for this story, including Anthropologie, responded to a request for comment.) | |
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