Change is coming! One fashion brand removed ‘plus size’ labels

The fashion retailer ModCloth made the announcement that is going to remove a separate ‘plus’ section from the ModCloth website.

The change comes as an effort for the brand to be more inclusive.

Founder of the company, Susan Koger, told Buzzfeed that the decision was made as a result of customer feedback and also her own personal experiences.

 

“I’ve had my own struggles with body image, and I can empathize with going shopping and feeling like I’m not enough.”

A survey conducted by ModCloth revealed that roughly half of their customers were averse to the term ‘plus-size’.

Susan explained she was also inspired by women’s reactions to recent pop-up shops the company organised.

 

“Seeing in real life how excited customers were that about 95% of our clothing was available in a full range of sizes [XS-4X] made us not want to relegate anyone to a different section based on size, and we wanted to reflect that on the site as well.”

These shops did not separate what would normally be considered ‘plus-size’ clothing from other sizes.

“Shopping is an experience that tears a lot of people down, but we want to make it an uplifting one,” she says. “It makes us wonder, why aren’t more people in the industry doing this?”

 

She also explained that removing the ‘plus’ label is not only in like with the company ethos, but it is also a smart business decision:

“I’m sure certain retailers have a fear of turning off straight size customers by welcoming customers who wear extended sizes, but that’s not true from what we’ve seen.”

 

Since the company began stocking larger sized clothing in 2013, Susan says is has been their fastest-growing sales category.

“There’s an outdated notion that the plus consumer won’t spend money on herself, and when she does, it won’t be trendy or stylish,” she added that ModCloth proves this notion is in fact not true.