Why is There a Lack of Plus Size Collections Placed and Seen In Stores?

Courtesy of Vogue

Even as the fashion industry is beginning to hire plus size models and design plus size collections, there is still work to be done when it comes to inclusivity and equality for in store shopping experiences. Many brands do not offer plus size collections or expanded sizes in store and place them only online. Some brands do not have a plus size collection at all or limited quantities of it. Plus size consumers still often feel alienated and othered while shopping for clothing especially in stores. 

Courtesy of WWD

The lack of plus size collections in store is due to a number of reasons. Many people tie the reasons to fatphobia and bias in the fashion industry, but unfortunately, it is even more complicated than that. Refinery29’s Gianluca Russo wrote, “Say a popular national brand with 50 in-person stores makes an investment into extended sizes. Of the newly launched 20 plus-size pieces, they order each garment in qualities of 100. Distributing that arrangement equally would mean only carrying two garments of each size per store. While this begs the question of why don't brands just make more clothing to distribute, the initial decision to carry plus sizes in-store is often not a one-and-done, but rather, a first step in the journey toward establishing a customer base that will let plus thrive in all markets nationally.”

Unfortunately, brands have guidelines and templates for their store layout and have to restock multiple times a week depending on customer demand. Individual stores sometimes do not know how much stock they will be getting of a specific product. How much stock they get also depends on how big the store is and what specific garments they carry. When a brand begins to offer more sizes, distribution can be harder to manage for them and this trickles down to individual stores.

Courtesy of Refinery29

Brand strategist Nicolette Mason said, “It’s an issue of inventory allocation and distribution,” she says. “Especially for brands early in their size expansion, the demand does not necessarily yet correlate to their current inventory. It’s a complicated logistics issue and something that often gets lost in the consumer-facing conversation.” Stores do not control how much stock they get of what or the store layout.

Sometimes brands that offer plus size collections, especially when they are just beginning to offer more sizes, usually have a limited supply. This leads to consumers that are looking for plus size apparel having little areas in store dedicated to them with a small amount of options for them to look at. 

Courtesy of Fashionista

Inventory and stock problems are valid reasons but it is also important to acknowledge the fatphobia and bias within the fashion industry and how it ties into this. Even with the rise in diversity and inclusion with fashion brands, a lot of fashion brands still do not offer plus size collections in general.

The ones that do have little offers and choices for consumers to choose from in store, do not show diverse body shapes on their website or keep their plus size collections only online. It is always great when brands offer more options for consumers to shop from but there is a right or wrong way to do so.

Consumers do not want to feel like the odd man out or stressed when shopping for clothes because a brand makes promises that they cannot keep. If brands want to offer plus size collections, they need to invest and go all in on it. They can start by expanding the sizing on the clothes that they already have and then design exclusively plus size collections. 

Courtesy of Refinery29

Plus size consumers deserve to buy the same clothing and have the same options as other consumers. The joy that plus size consumers experience when they find a collection in store that they love is important for them to feel. For instance, after shopping in an Athleta store, twitter user Marley Blonsky tweeted, “The first time I got to go to @Athleta and try on the same clothes as my friend at the same time I legit cried. For years I've been the fat friend who had to go to Lane Bryant or Torrid, while everyone else went to the cute shops. Not anymore!” No one should feel alienated during their shopping experience. It is up to brands to help consumers feel comfortable shopping with them and enhance the shopping experience with them.