There is currently a lot of chatter in the fashion world for brands to be 100% inclusive, so do you focus on being size inclusive or style inclusive, that is the question?
If they choose to do size inclusion, which is an extension of the current size offering they need to get it right. Plus size women get so excited when they see something in their size that’s also in size 12 and under, but they are frequently disappointed because the brand misses the mark because of the fit when it comes to plus size. Brands that choose to do size inclusion need to pay attention to making sure that they garment works well on a size 2 and on a size 22, and this is often something very difficult to accomplish. Anthropologie recently launched A+ which is an extension of their current styles in plus size. You can clearly tell from the plus size reviews that they hit it out of the ball park. They not only recreated the exact style in plus size, they got the fit perfect. You can definitely tell that they put a lot of time and effort into getting it right.
Universal Standard a contemporary sportswear brand, started out by catering to plus size women, recently changed their mantra and are now offering all of their products in size 00-40, “officially making it the most size-inclusive retailer for women across the world.” Not everyone they originally catered to where happy with their decision to be 100% size inclusive. Let’s give Universal Standard credit where credit is due, they have done a really good job focusing on fit and quality regardless of the size.
However not every brand can do this well. In order for any brand to do this correctly they really have to be committed to getting the fit right for the size 14 and larger customer. I think size inclusion is a bit more challenging when you start to do more fashion pieces, you quickly find out what works on a size 2 doesn’t necessarily work for a size 22.
At Lola Getts we chose to focus on offering the plus size women styles that she sees in size 12 and under but work for her body type, we refer to this as “style inclusion”. Brands like us have to do a great job translating what we see in the size 12 and under market and figure out how to make them work for our customer’s body. We spend a great deal of time researching trends whether it be colors, styles, or fabrics. We are proud to say we are one of the few brands in the activewear space who is doing this. "Style inclusion" allows Lola Getts to focus on fit first and find style trends that will work within our parameters. We want our customer to be able to wear pieces that she feels great in and of course she loves getting compliments because she looks so good!
So which is the right direction for a brand to go in, there is no right choice and it depends entirely up to the brand to decide. But keep in mind regardless of the choice, whether it be "style inclusion" or size inclusion there is one thing that can’t ever be compromised and that is the fit of the garment especially when it comes to plus size.
