It’s a market that has long been given the cold shoulder by retailers but now for retailers selling plus-size apparel holds a huge business opportunity.
Quite a lot of retailers, such as the Future Group-promoted aLL, Revolution, Pluss and Trent’s label Gia are showing significant footing in this ready-to-wear category.
While many times the industry has shied away from creating larger sizes, fearing this would somehow alienate their traditional customer.
Designing plus-size clothing requires more than simply scaling a medium into a larger size, as details such as patterns can play out differently in larger sizes.
According to an analysis by medical journal The Lancet, India is just a few notches below the US and China in the obesity pecking order.
According to data from the study, it suggests that as many as 46 million people are overweight in India. For retailers of heavier customers, plus-size clothing, who earlier resorted to neighbourhood tailors, is now adding to the demand for ready-to-wear apparel.
The women’s wear segment is expected to reach $22.3 billion by 2017. The plus-size clothing segment, according to a Technopak report, which already contributes $1.8 billion, is expected to double during this period.
Previously several international brands such as Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors have been associated with full-figure fashion with dedicated lines.
“There is a huge demand for plus sizes. Ours is a western apparel brand catering to sizes from 0 to 20. We put a lot of thrust on design, fabric and detailing to ensure a proper body sizing,” says Jahid Osam, MD, Avirate India. Avirate is a women’s high-street brand from Sri Lanka. According to apparel industry data, the average size of the Indian woman has moved up from eight to 14 in four decades.
“The plus-size segment is a latent market that offers huge opportunity,” said Ganesh Subramanian, the company’s CEO.