If you are thinking of starting a plus-sized fashion brand it’s a growing market and has great potential, expecting to grow 7% by 2022. The ladies plus size fashion market is worth £4.7 billion in the UK according to a PWC report.
Plus size can be classed as sizes 14-34. The biggest market of this is currently between the ages of 25-65. Most UK retailers however start their plus size ranges at size 16 or 18.
The plus-size market has been steadily growing and it shows no signs of slowing down, so what has driven that growth.
There have been several Positive campaigns that have been evident in different ways:
- 2004 with Doves Real beauty campaign.
- 2012 UK Plus size fashion week
- 2016 Sports illustrated had it’s first plus-size model on the front cover
- 2016 New York Plus size fashion week started.
These are just some of the events that have changed and challenged the public consciousness.
Influencers
There has been an Increase of influencers with great body confidence such as Ashley Graham with 8.6M followers who says “I will not let others dictate what they think my body should look like for their own comfort, and neither should you.”
The rise of social media and Instagram hashtags such as #loveyourbody (4.2M tags #bodypositive (10.4m tags) #beautybeyondsize (475K tags)
Image Credit: @ashleygraham
Inclusion of Plus Size Models In Low Value Fashion Brands
The increase of low-value fast fashion brands and their inclusion of plus-size models in advertising, Pretty little thing feature several plus-size influencers in their posts from @felicityhayward to @ayeshapi.
Supermarkets have also launched new campaigns, Sainsbury Tu have relaunched their lingerie range with “be you” as a tagline and “All boobs Welcome”.
Plus Size and Your Business
Has this made you consider starting a plus-size line or reaffirmed that idea that has been lingering with you for a while?
So what should you be thinking about if you are interested in starting a plus size fashion brand? Here are some of the points that you should consider.
What’s your purpose behind starting the brand?
You’ve got to know your why.
What’s is your Unique Selling Point?
What sets you apart.
Where will you position your brand?
Will you be a specialist and only offer plus size? Will you be even more bespoke and offer a made to order service?
What is your planned pricing structure?
(50% of plus size female shoppers said that price was their main reason for purchasing).
You need to know your pricing structure before you start working on your costings.
What is your target age range and Demographic?
Where are they – will you sell only in the UK? How will you target them.
Who are your competitors?
Knowing and understanding what your competitors do is really important.
This will also help you determine what’s your USP.
If you need help with any of these points or need to work on your strategy take a look at my packages and book a FREE discovery call to help get you started.
References
https://www.pwc.co.uk/transaction-services/assets/pdf/pwc-plus-size-market-review.pdf
https://www.pragmauk.com/insights-news/2018/07/04/plus-size-clothing-market-2018?rq=plus%20size
