Producing plus-size women’s clothing was a problem for fashion brands. The cost was one and its acceptance is also an issue. But no more as the number of little oversized women is increasing and brands can no more ignore this segment.
Fashion brands are addressing the bottlenecks in producing plus-size women’s clothing. They now realize that if they succeed it will open new profit opportunities. Women the world over are now not ashamed of their body configuration. Still, even those brands that have ventured into this segment are not offering the same variety of fabric, colors, and patterns that they offer to their regular fashion buyers.
The brands would decide to enlarge or limit the offerings for plus-size offerings depending on the response they get from the new custom category. According to a study, the plus-size women’s clothing market size was $194 billion in 2021 and it was expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4 percent from 2022-2030.
Among the retail brands that ventured into this segment are Walmart, New Look, River Island, and Marks & Spencer. Currently, women in the age bracket of 25 to 45 years are driving plus-size clothing. Still, the retail stores do not keep a large variety of plus-size clothing. But the trend is on and expanding.
The momentum toward greater representation of plus-size clothing is on social media, and at social functions. Plus-size women complain that fashion clothing above size 24 is rare. Since the cost of plus-size dresses is higher these are retailed at 15-20 percent higher prices than the normal size ranges. The price difference does hurt plus-size clothing buyers.
Brands have now realized that plus-size women’s clothing offers an opportunity for higher sales and profitability. is opening doors for profitability. They are addressing some manufacturing challenges, but the opportunity available is forcing them to take a calculated risk.
