Today the average American woman is a size 14 which is considered a plus-size and 60 percent of the female population wears size 14 or higher. What does all of this mean for the fashion industry?
Plus size clothing industry trends: does bigger mean bigger business?
Special to FashionIndustryToday.com
May 2, 2008
by Theresa Connolly, San Francisco
The media is constantly reminding us that we are getting larger. And in fact, we are. According to the Center for Disease Control, over the past 30 years the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased dramatically among both adults and children. Although the most recent CDC findings report that there has not been a significant increase in the past few years, overall the numbers are still high. Over one-third of adult Americans are obese or 34 percent of the adult population. In 2005-2006, over 72 million people in this country were obese. But, it is not just the statistics about obesity that are telling. We are also getting taller and the birth weight and size of babies being born is increasing.
Today the average American woman is a size 14 which is considered a plus-size and 60 percent of the female population wears size 14 or higher. What does all of this mean for the fashion industry?
Considering all of the numbers, it is not surprising that interest in the plus-size market has definitely increased over the past several years as the level of obesity has increased. Retailers and designers have recognized the demand for the plus-size market and have made significant strides in the market. Plus-size clothing can be found in a range of boutique stores, specialty shops, department stores and on-line. According to NPD Group, a marketing research firm, women spent more than $17 billion on plus size clothing in 2000. NPD also reports that in past several years there has been significant growth in the plus-size industry–averaging a 4 to 6 percent growth annually while the rest of the industry has averaged closer to 2 to 4 percent growth.
Global Information, Inc. reports that the plus-size clothing retail market for adults and children totaled $76 billion in 2006. The report also forecasts sales will continue to rise and reach the $100 billion mark by the year 2012. Consumers are obviously willing to spend in the plus-size market for both clothing and other essentials. PR Newswire quotes Sharron Lennon, PhD, a consumer sciences researcher at Ohio State University, as stating, “What retailers are realizing and manufacturers, is that there are a lot of people out there that would be purchasing those kinds of products if they were available for them.”
What was once a niche market has grown into an industry and continues to expand. Charming Shoppes, Inc. is one example of this growth. According to its website, the store debuted in 1940 as a store called Charm Shoppes and later Charming Today. Charming Shoppes, Inc. is now the parent company of four distinct store brands–Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherine’s Plus Sizes and Petite Sophisticate, and is a specialty retailer specializing in women’s plus-size apparel. Lane Bryant acquired by Charming Shoppes, Inc. in 2001, is widely recognized in the plus-size industry with more than 900 retail stores and 100 outlets in 46 states. Its 2008 revenues are projected at $1.2 billion. Torrid another specialty plus-size retailer grew out of customer demand the company reports on its website. Torrid’s sister store, Hot Topic with more than 500 stores nationwide, had increasing requests for larger sizes. In 2001, Torrid opened its doors and has grown to more than 100 stores nationwide offering apparel and accessories to women size 12-26.
With all these glowing reports of expansion and increased sales in the plus-size market one would assume all retail outlets would be jumping on the plus-size band wagon. Certainly, just a few years ago this appeared to be the case. In 2001, Lane Bryant was acquired by Charming Shoppes, Inc., Torrid opened its doors to huge success, and several plus-size fashion lines were introduced. Many of the fashion household names such as Gap, Talbots, Macys, Liz Claiborne and Land’s End carried a plus-size line. Yet, there has been a definite change in the market and in the past few years there has been a definite cooling by the main line retailers toward the plus-size market.
A Washington Post report dated May of 2005, reported H&M’s and Jennifer Lopez’s Sweetface Fashion LLC discontinuing their plus- size lines in the United States. In spring of 2007, Old Navy a division of Gap, Inc. announced it was pulling its plus-size line from the shelves. The company’s press release describes its fall 2007 plus-size line as, “The versatile separates in sizes 16-30 are designed specifically for the fashionable, plus-size woman and can be mixed or matched for winter time work, party or play. Old Navy Women’s Plus is available exclusively on-line at www.oldnavy.com/plus.” This move seemed to follow in the footsteps of other retailers including J. Crew and American Eagle that sell larger sizes on-line not in their stores. Old Navy, Inc. cites slow sales as the reason for removing the plus-size line. H&M representative, Lisa Sandberg, director of communications for H&M in the United States, told the Washington Post that BiB, H&M’s plus-size line, did not do well in the US. Andy Hilfiger, president and co-founder of Sweetface, reported to the Washington Post that the line did “okay.”
The Washington Post article points to fashions lack of love for the “fat industry.” Suzanne D’Amato of the Post writes, “One frequently cited explanation for the companies’ withdrawal (from plus size) market. Fat just isn’t fashionable. No one wants to be associated with it.” The article also points out that H&M discontinued their BiB line shortly after Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld complained when the company manufactured his line in larger sizes. D’Amato suggests that retailers are struggling with combining plus-sizes with their main line market. She quotes Wendy Farina, principal at Kurt Salmon Associates, “There are probably great debates in the boardrooms right now about how moving into that plus-size market might impact their core customer.” The retail industry has followed the market research suggesting that plus-size shoppers would be more comfortable shopping on-line.
The retail market in general is suffering from a slowing economic market. A Reuters report from March 28, 2008, discussed JC Penney’s financial woes and concerns about consumer spending. JC Penney’s stock dropped significantly, shares fell 7.5 percent, according to the report, after the retailer warned of declining profits and cut its quarterly outlook. The loss was definitely worse than expected and other major retails posted losses as well including Macy’s, Inc. down 6 percent and Kohl’s Corp. down almost 5 percent according to Reuter’s Caroline Valetkevitch. Charming Shoppes, Inc. also reported significant losses.
Net sales for the fourth quarter 2007 were down 10 percent over the previous year’s posting. Net sales for the fifty two weeks ending on February 2, 2008 decreased 2 percent from 2007. Dorrit J Bern, Chairman, CEO and President of Charming Shoppes, Inc. commented on sales and operating results for its stores fourth quarter stating, “Clearly, our performance during the fourth quarter was extremely disappointing, and was impacted by downward traffic trends and response rates to our stores and catalogs, which we continue to experience. The combination of changing customer preferences from our merchandise offerings and the very difficult economy in which we are operating led to accelerated promotional activity and meaningful negative impact to our merchandise margins.”
Things are not expected to significantly improve in the near future both JC Penney and Charming Shoppes, Inc. forecast that the environment will not significantly improve in the near future. Furthermore, Charming Shoppes, Inc., reports on its website to its investors that it will “significantly” slow down its new store opening plan for fiscal year 2009. It is planning a “50 %” reduction in the number of store openings as compared to fiscal year 2008. It would seem the plus-size market is feeling the economic hard times as is much of the main line retail market.
Understanding that we are facing an economic downturn, retailers are looking to the future. In October the 2007 WWD/DNR Retail/Apparel CEO Summit was held in New York City. CEOs including Tory Burch, Mickey Drexler of J. Crew Group, Inc, Jane T. Elfers of Lord and Taylor, Ralph Lauren of Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. as well as many other well known and respected leaders in the retail industry joined together to address the state of the industry and the future it will face. A detailed report by Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA), a major consulting group to the retail, consumer products, and health care industries, summarizes the current condition of the retail industry and the evolving nature of the market.
The theme of the 2007 WWD/DNR Retail/Apparel CEO Summit was Reinvention, and the CEOs who spoke shared their perspectives on the state of the industry and their place within it. One notable point from the report is the notion that marketing in the retail market is changing significantly. The report labeled this as the “omnipresent interconnectedness” of our time. Reishad Robaccowala of Publicis Groupe Media, addressed this issue and spoke to the group stating, “The future does not fit into our present containers. Media consumption and ad dollars used to be centralized within print, TV and radio, he explained. Now they’re scattered across thousands of web pages that cater to niche audiences. Instead of editors deciding what’s important, content is edited by the “wisdom of the crowd.”
Furthermore, the report goes on to say, “The web has also transformed the distribution model–anything can be posted online–which in turn makes content the primary factor. Finally, where marketers used to think of advertising in terms of space, new media is organized into audiences–a Gucci page on MySpace or a Tory Burch group on Facebook.” The plus-size market seems to be a direct example of this phenomenon. After Old Navy, Inc. pulled its plus-size line from stores, several plus-size blogs discussed the move on-line and many urged its followers to boycott Old Navy and its parent store Gap, Inc. Torrid which has done extraordinarily well in the plus size market has definitely used this concept to its advantage. Its website offers a community link which allows its customers to interact with the company and others. Customers can vote on company polls about styles or learn more about the current Torrid model. The company also launched a model search utilizing such on-line resources as You Tube to get the word out. The current Torrid models are hot discussion for blog and other on line venues.
The internet seems to be the place for plus-size retail. Another relatively new, but highly successful retailer of plus-size apparel is Junonia which was started in 1999 by Anne Kelly. According to the company’s website, “Junonia issued its first 8-page catalog in March 1995, from a one-room office in downtown Saint Paul. Since then, the Eagan-based company has grown to become the leading retailer exclusively for women’s plus-size active wear in the US. It now mails over 5 million catalogs a year.” Junonia does not operate any retail locations. In 1999, the company introduced its web-site where customers could order the company’s full line of clothing.
According to Fashion Facts! internet sales are now 60% of the company’s $10 million sales. There are also several other specialty plus-size boutiques to be found exclusively on-line such as Diana Chibas Intimates and Realsize.com. The number of plus-size e-tailers continues to grow. These sites focus on being inviting, welcoming and friendly to their customers something plus-size women have not always felt in brick and mortar retail stores. In a report on e-tailers by Cotton Incorporated, Lifestyle Monitor, Sally Smith, editor-in-chief of BBW remarks about traditional retail stores, “They don’t cater to us–or they relegate us to the ghetto of their store.” Smith also remarks on the growth of e-tailers for plus-size shoppers stating “(it) proves that there’s absolutely a plus-size market out there ant that we have the money are willing to spend it on high, quality, fashionable clothing.”
Is the future of the plus-size industry in specialty retail such as Lane Bryant and Torrid and on-line only retailers such as Junonia and major retailers who only sell plus-sizes on line? Certainly using the internet for marketing does make a difference as both Junonia and Torrid have demonstrated this. However, internet seems to be only one piece of the pie. Companies that are being innovative in their marketing are also catching the eye of consumers.
Again, Torrid and Junonia use models that consumers can relate to in their own lives. Junonia addresses this issue on their website by stating they use only “real, plus-size models for photography and fit.” The founder Anne Kelly writes, “The most frequent comment I get from customers is how delighted they are that we show the clothes on real women. They like the strong, confident attitude, and love seeing how the clothes will actually look on them.” Torrid uses both professional models and real life young women to model their clothes. Not only are they do a national model search, but also offering a link on their site to learn more about applying to be a Torrid model. Other sites answer emails personally. The plus-size woman is celebrated on these sites and her body is conveyed in a positive light.
Successful plus-size retailers are working to appeal to the young, hip and trendy who want hip and trendy clothes. The fastest growing sector of the plus-size industry is the junior and youth division. Cotton Incorporated reports that one are that is getting a lot of attention these days is the teen market. The report quotes, S Manhattan-based fashion and style consultant Michelle Weston, “In the past, no one wanted to admit that bodies come in all shapes and sizes. But we’ve seen a slow shift in consciousness in that thinking, and with it the growth of categories such as plus-size teens.” Adds Weston, “The teen plus-size market is becoming more and more evolved. It’s the fastest growing sector of retail because more teens and tweens are coming into their own. We need to take them seriously because they have a lot of buying power.” Continues Weston, “Teens want clothes that make them fit in with their peers and in with the group, unlike adults who want to be individual. It’s important for adults, retailers and designers to foster self-esteem in teens and support that. They are our future, and we need to help them feel good about themselves in both mind and body. Teens should not be excluded from wearing hipper, fashionable clothing because of their size.”
A report from TC2, developer of the Size USA Anthropometric Survey, discusses a study done my Pamela Ulrich and Lenda Jo Connel of Auburn University on the matter of plus-size girls ages 9-14. According to the report, Ulrich and Connell’s research was three-fold: investigate physical and psychological characteristics; determine the market potential; and decide how to develop a sizing category. The research concluded that although plus-size and normal size girls have similar body ideals, plus-size girls are much more dissatisfied with their bodies. The report also states, “The market potential appears to be explosive. One estimate puts expenditures on girl’s apparel at 14 billion dollars a year. It has also been discovered that mothers of plus size girls are willing to spend more time and money on apparel for their daughters but find it difficult to find age-appropriate clothing that is in line with their daughter’s normal sized peers clothing.” Furthermore, the report indicates dissatisfaction among plus-size girls and their mothers when it comes to shopping. The experience is described as “unpleasant and sometimes even painful.”
Clearly the market for the tween and children’s plus-size market is huge. An NPD report from November, 2005, writes that nearly one-third of all children in US are considered overweight and finding clothes that fit can be a difficult. The NPD report also states that 31 percent of nine to twelve-year-old boys and 38 percent of girls in the nine-twelve age groups are already wearing clothes from the men, women or junior-size apparel departments. The report goes on to state that 74 percent of overweight boys and 84 percent of overweight girls in the nine to twelve year-old age groups are “sizing up” or buying clothes not made for their age group. Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst of NPD Group, states, “When kids have to size up to men’s and women’s sizes it can be challenging to find clothes that are age-appropriate.” The problem can be especially difficult because of the emotional issues involved.
Although the CDC reports that thirty percent of US kids are overweight, when surveyed only 13 percent of moms say they consider their kids overweight.
Furthermore, although adults may be willing to shop in specialty retail stores for plus-size clothing mothers do not necessarily want a plus-size specialty store for their children’s clothes. Cohen says, “While plus-size women and big and tall men are willing to shop at separate stores or special sizing racks, mothers don’t want to shop that way for their children, especially if they see their child as ‘average’ when it comes to size.” Retailers must understand this special niche market and address the psychological and emotional needs of plus-size children and their parents.
The need for quality plus-size clothing continues to rise not only because of the increasing size of American adults, but also the growing obesity among tweens, teenagers and young adults. The statistics show that a large part of the population now needs to wear what is considered plus-size clothing. Retailers want to fill this need, but have not always gone about it in the best way. The emotional part of shopping is often lost on the plus-size consumer in the traditional retail setting. Celebrating the larger body and how it looks as well as creating clothing that is hip and trendy for the younger consumers is key to filling the void.[]
Theresa Connolly is a business writer at FashionIndustryToday.com.