There was a time when the fashion world, and especially retail giants, articulately segregated ‘plus-sized’ fashion from the rest of the sizing chart.
For a long time, ‘plus-sized’ was either incredibly hard to find in-store, or would have its own sub-stores dedicated to curvier women.
In recent news, the Foschini Group is rolling with the times as their former ‘plus-sized’ store, Donna (once Donna Claire), will now merge with the “All Woman” fashion range. This will see a phasing out of the stand-alone entity stores, reports News24.
This means a range stemming from 6/XS to 30/3XL in one store.
According to marketing manager Sheri-Lee Carver-Brown, the merger is about “making a statement of our commitment to more fashion, more freedom and more equality,” which will also take on the pricing of plus-size clothing. Costs are set to be 20% cheaper than they were in the Donna clothing range, according to Carver-Brown, who spoke with The Saturday Star.
Let’s talk body inclusivity.
Body positivity movements across social media and body activism have definitely changed the way people see plus-sized clothing, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Ashleigh Nefdt, and thankfully the way that retailers engage with their audience too.
The plus-sized appeal has always been marginalized in fashion. Beauty standards are obnoxiously set in high fashion and then retailers follow suit. Of course, you can’t ignore the fact that the majority of your market isn’t a size 0, and so you dedicate some space for other customers and tout it as ‘plus sized’. From a profitability perspective, it’s erring, and from a beauty standard perspective, it’s frustrating.
The idea of inclusivity, is for some, grotesquely late, and for others, right on time. Body positivity movements have been at the forefront of fashion for a while now, thanks to activists like supermodel Ashley Graham. The role of the influencer can’t be denied in the shift from Heroine Chic to Curves.
The movement had a role to play in Victoria’s Secret hanging up their wings because of backlash based on inclusivity. America’s store chain Nordstrom was inspired to expand their plus-sized range too, tapping into 100 brands to participate in all of its categories. Girlfriend Collective is another all-inclusive brand that tapped into the power of the influencer.
The point is that inclusivity is imperative, and the days of having stores dedicated to only one body type are, in my humble opinion, overtly outdated. Hopefully, Foschini, who has been around since 1925 can set some sort of tone for this endeavour in South Africa, and other outlets will be hot on the coattails of the movement.
Picture: Pressroom