RRJ #2

Reference:
O’Donnell, J. (2010, Jan 21). More retailers offer fashionable clothing for plus-size women. Retrieved Feb 2, 2010.
USA TODAY, from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2010-01-21-plus-size-fashion_N.htm

Summary:
According to CDC (The Center for Disease Control and Prevention)’s report, about 34% of U.S. adults – almost 73 million people – were obese in 2008 and 35.5% of women are classified as obese, and about 64% are overweight or obese. But they have no fashion choices to buy fancy and trendy clothes for plus-size people; thus, they complaint about that. As the overweight or obese population grows, some designers or retailers, including online sellers, have decided to sell big size clothes, which are bigger than a size 12.

Reaction:
Recently plus-size models and clothes are a big issue in the fashion industry, because of a social argument about skinny models who have the high pressure of anorexia. Hence, plus-size market might be a blue ocean, but most fashion companies and retailers hesitate to launch a plus-size line. Why they do that?

Despite more than half of U.S. women being plus-size women, they don’t trust the plus-size market and they think it affects their image negatively. So some companies, like Old Navy, Banana Republic, have launched plus-size lines online only.

Fashion designers, companies, and retailers cannot ignore the needs of plus-size people any more. It is good marketing to grasp the customer’s needs directly and lead to satisfaction of customers. Design also should understand what they want, for example, to look slim and to cover the weakness of the body.

It is the same to look great and want to wear fancy and trendy clothes for all women, including girls, old women, skinny women, and fat women.