Womens plus size clothing (size 18 and above) is growing in strength in the womenswear market year on year to such an extent that it has now increased by 45% in the last 5 years and is worth £3.8 billion. This increase demonstrates the importance of the plus size industry. In the same time period plus size menswear has also increased by 6% and is worth £1.9 billion.
The report was carried out by Mintel who are leaders in suppling of competitive product, consumer and media data.
From the report findings Mintel summised that older people are more likely to wear women’s plus size clothing however, the market was growing for women in the age bracket 35 – 44 who also buy plus size clothes. A third of men aged 35 and under also buy XL sizes.
From these findings Mintel concluded that retailers should be designing on trend women’s plus size clothing for a younger market.
This is also supported by the fact that more than half of plus size women do not have a wide choice of women’s plus size clothing. This has not changed since the last Mintel report showing that retailers have not changed their offer to include the plus size industry. Indeed, over four in ten women that wear a size 18 and above find that clothes in their size are less fashionable.
The report found that clothes can not be sized up but need to be designed specifically for the plus size woman as one in five women hold body shape responsible for finding it difficult to find clothes that fit, especially those sized 14 and 16.
Another difficulty that consumers find is the difference from one retailer to the next in their sizing of clothes. Mintel concludes that retailers need to work together more to regain the confidence of consumers over sizing.
The report concludes that the launch of the new range of plus size clothes from ASOS Curve [site: www.asos.com] is likely to appeal to the younger plus size market, filling a much need gap in the market.
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