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Fashion's Larger Problem
Johleen Solly tries on plus-size clothing at Old Navy in Oxon Hill. She specifically avoids shopping at retailers that offer her size only online and not in their stores. "I want to go in the store," she says.
(By Pilar Vergara For The Washington Post)
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"It's absolutely not an image issue," said Lisa Sandberg, director of communications for H&M in the United States. Her sentiment was echoed by Andy Hilfiger, president and co-founder of Sweetface, as well as representatives of the Gap, J. Crew and other companies that offer extended sizes online.
Sandberg declined to release sales figures, but she said of BiB: "The line did not do well here. I think the American customer was looking for something more colorful or fashion-forward."
According to Hilfiger, the plus-size line "did okay." The problem, he said, was that department stores stocked it in their plus-size departments; Hilfiger wanted it in juniors, next to the brand's other sizes.
"A lot of designers, they're not advertising the plus-size line," Hilfiger said. "I wanted a girl that was a size 2 to shop with a size 13."
Hilfiger admitted that designing for plus-size customers takes experience -- a point that Lane Bryant likes to emphasize.
"I think other retailers entering the market think, 'Oh, there's money to be made. Should we just scale up what we have and see what happens?' " said Catherine Lippincott, spokeswoman for Lane Bryant.
Retailers looking to increase their business have ample incentive to dive in the plus-size pool.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, female college undergraduates outnumber males. "They will be controlling more money in years to come than ever before," Ouyoumjian said. "And many of these women are already plus-sized."
Jamie Cupples, 26, of Alexandria put it simply. "I'd love it if I could go shopping with a skinny friend, and she wouldn't be bored out of her wits while I was at Lane Bryant, and I wouldn't be bored when she was at American Eagle," said Cupples, a program assistant with the National Park Service who is 5 foot 7, 220 pounds and a size 18.
"If the options were there, I would be there."
