Selkie Spring 2024 — ‘Do You Believe’ In The Monetary Value Of Plus Size Representation?
“People hate fat people more than they love money,” says Weight For It editor Sarah Dealy.
In their most recent runway show titled Do You Believe?, Selkie flipped that narrative on its head by presenting their beautiful fairy inspired designs on models sizes XXS — 4X, as well as closing out the show with a performance by plus size burlesque dancer Jezebel Express.
By consistently featuring models in a wide array of sizes and body types, Selkie challenges the fashion industry’s outdated model of creating clothes for just one type of consumer.
“In the United States 72 percent of women wear sizes 12 and above. Yet remarkably, fewer than 15 percent of finer brands offer larger than size 12,” according to Diboll & Associates Marketing and Public Relations. This difference in consumers’ needs versus what is currently on the market allows for a lot of growth opportunities for brands looking to broaden their clientele, and more importantly for a successful business, make more money.
Many brands claim that it is “too hard” to make clothing for plus size people, in styles they are already making for straight size customers. They say that fit proportions are different on a plus size body, thus traditional size grading is not possible when making patterns based on a sample size small.
“A second sample size needs to be created that is more appropriate for a plus size body,” says plus size pattern maker Leila Kelleher.
Selkie embraces inclusive sizing by doing what should be common practice at this point. They don’t have specific styles made for specific sizes that creates tension between plus size and straight size customers. Instead, they make every style available to everyone sizes XXS — 6X, and utilize a size large fit model to ensure their larger sizes are proportionate to larger bodies.
Fashion being a trickle down industry with trends usually starting in high-end spaces, it is so important for runways during major fashion weeks to be full of models that represent all potential customers. However, an analysis by Racked says that “plus size makes up just 0.1% of the luxury market.”
A study done by retail analytics firm Edited found that only 2.3 percent of brands sold in 25 of the largest multi-brand retailers’ women’s apparel category are plus size. Though this percentage is slightly higher than the amount of plus sizes in luxury fashion, likely due to greater demand, it is evident that there is correlation between what is presented on the runway and what ends up in retail stores.
With Selkie gaining more popularity in both the high-end category and on social media, the trend of inclusivity hopefully will extend to other brands, even if their sole reason for doing so is to make more money. The need for plus size runway representation is easy to connect to higher profits. When people see models with their body types strutting down the catwalk, it encourages them to invest in the clothing simply because they know the garment shown on the plus size model will look good on them too.
