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Why Saks’ New Designer Plus Size Department is a Good Thing
By Emily Cronin
An old Lane Bryant ad, via the Copyranter.
Prepare for a Chanel-inspired stampede. This autumn, Saks Fifth Avenue will become the first major US retailer to stock plus-sized clothing from all of its high fashion brands.
Goods from Alexander McQueen, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, and yes, Chanel, will soon be available up to size 14, with some brands extending to size 20. And rather than being segregated into a different section, plus-sized garments will be displayed on the same rails as straight-sized stock on Saks’ high-end third floor.
It’s astonishing that something so obvious, lucrative and longed-for could take this long. The plus-size clothing sector is worth $27 billion globally, according to data from New York-based buying firm Global Purchasing Group.
That’s partly due to prevailing health trends, but also a result of increasingly arbitrary sizing—the US doesn’t have any clothing size regulations, so a woman who wears a size 8-10 at a mainstream store might find that McQueen thinks she’s a 12 or 14.
The customers who will flock to Saks are likely to be established professionals with money to spend, a group thus far underserved by luxury fashion.
Saks will stock one of each size in most items until executives gauge the success of the expanded size offering. Our prediction? Sell-outs, wait lists, and advance orders galore.
Thinking even bigger, this could lead other stores to adopt size-neutral buying policies, and could even mean the end of one-size-only model booking. Can’t you just see catwalks where the models truly reflect the consumer base? In our heads, at least, it looks beautiful.
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I think this is a wonderful thing! This is a major breakthrough!!!
Thank. God.
This is a long time coming!! Yes. One small step for womenkind!
Next … Petites.
Ugh….I'm not happy to see this.
Well, I'm happy to see that they're catering to a larger clientelle (aka the fatties), I certainly don't want to see Tubbs stomping down the runway munching on a 2-piece and a bisquit with crumbs and gravy spilling down the bodice of a bibbed chiffon gown.
What's wrong Ian…some chunky cutie shoot you down? They were probably too good for you anyway…don't hate too much.
Seriously…considering that they are still saying UP TO SIZE 14…this is lovely news.
Hardly…
I'm not attracted to *ahem* dumpy men. I'm 6'2, 143lbs, and can wear anything I please. I prefer my men to look good in their Balmain skinny-fit knitted slacks alongside me.
Matching Balmain slacks, shrunken Lucien Pellat-Finet cardigans, and Lanvin sneakers is adorable, no?
People who drop names (in this case labels) are specially tacky IMO. And please, you probably wouldn't be able to afford Balmain anyway. Haters will be haters.
I bet you can't even afford Balenciaga.
How can I find your damn website?
Ian sounds a bit misogynistic. Most women don't want to look like skinny boys.
Good to see Chanel doing plus sizes after their use of a larger model in one of their campaigns (I think for the shock value). Although the Kaiser, as a reformed fattie, often vents about his disdain for the overweight, there are a lot of women who just want to look as good as they can irrespective of their size. Lagerfeld looks skinny but not healthy these day.
Sorry, got it wrong – just saw this Racked story: http://ny.racked.com/archives/2010/07/29/plussi…. Chanel has been quietly making plus sizes for years. It is the older ladies who could afford Chanel – it didn't become hip till 2002.
???
Who wouldn't want to be thin and have a lithe, fit body such as mine?
It's hogwash and little more when people decry the thin…! Jealousy, I think.
FIX YOUR PRIORITIES, MADAME!
this week's New York Times Sunday Magazine has a REALLY great piece on this exact subject.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/magazine/01pl…
that would be great if you guys would link to it; I think a lot of readers would be interested.
Ian, are you for real? ANYONE who flaunts their personal attributes in a way that is condescending to others truly needs to look inwards and realize that that insecurity is a problem.