How are we so deep into the twenty-first century, and yet still blatantly discriminating against plus size bodies? Surely, we have developed enough as a society to realise that the aesthetic ideals of fashion from the mid-twentieth century are exceptionally outdated. With women now beginning to embrace their bodies in all of their curvy glory, how is the fashion industry falling so behind in catering to such a key demographic?

Beth Ashley from Vogue Business cited that the average woman in Western society is now a size 18 with only 20% of the fashion industry catering to this demographic. Another Vogue Business report claimed that the plus-size industry is now worth a staggering US$28 Billion. How are these statistics even possible in this day and age? We are in such a “woke” era, yet there is a whole category of people that are completely forgotten about. So I have spent some time this year really digging into why this blatant discrimination is still happening.

The fashion industry has historically overlooked the plus-size demographic. There is a preference for a thin aesthetic that is predominantly influenced by the luxury sector, evident by their lack of diversity within their advertising and on the catwalk (1). Unfortunately, this preference for thinness has trickled down to premium and high-street brands, becoming the norm for their size range offerings. Granted, a lot of brands will offer up to a size 14, or even a size 16, if we are lucky. But the chances of those sizes even fitting on those bodies are very poor. How then how are we supposed to upsize?

Let's not even talk about how difficult brands make it to shop for larger sizes in-store. Kathryn Anthony recently wrote an insightful article about brands hiding their plus-size departments; segregating them at the back of the store. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

It is systemic, due to the prejudice that has long been felt within the fashion industry. Additionally, there are systemic concerns within the production process. As Beth Ashley further argues, people are not trained to grade patterns correctly to cater for the larger demographic, and this shows a lack in education within the field. On top of this, alot of apparel machinery is not designed to cater to large patterns.

It is then cyclic because plus size women have all but given up on the industry. Brands will occasionally attempt a plus size range, offering sub-par designs as mentioned above. They are then shocked when their line doesn't rake in the big figures that they were expecting, claiming that there isn't a market there (2), and so the cycle continues. Well, there IS a market but we demand quality! And let’s not stop there- we want ethical and sustainable pieces too!

Sustainability is a major trend and especially within the fashion industry, with key organisations like the Business of Fashion pushing the sustainability mentality through its annual reports. However, despite the growing number of sustainable brands, I noticed that it was very rare to come across brands that offer sustainable items for plus size women. After digging deeper, it became clear that there were a couple of key reasons for this that reflect the issues already discussed. However, Sadhbh O'Sullivan revealed an interesting additional point that brands who are already promoting sustainable options are generally already investing their time and usually limited finances into a niche market, and are therefore choosing to keep things simple by keeping to a traditional size range.

Of course, I have only really scratched the surface of the issues within the fashion industry's disregard for the plus size consumer, and there is definitely room for more conversations on the topic.

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