At this point we’ve practically begged retailers to be more inclusive, and please, please, please extend sizing for women. But the curvy community isn’t just grown women—it’s also teens who still want their own teen centered brands to bother to extend their sizing. When brands do cater to curvy women, it draws in customers brings in a ton of revenue, so there’s no reason junior brands shouldn’t be catering to curvy sizes.
New research from market firm The NPD Group suggests that twice as many teen consider buying “plus-size” clothing as they did five years ago. And it’s interesting to see that there’s been a decline among teens buying from the juniors section, but the percentage of those purchasing clothing in larger sizes marketed to teenagers has grown exponentially, from 19% in 2012 to a now 34%.
In the release, Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst commented, “Teens are reinvigorating the plus size market. Today’s young consumers know what they want and won’t settle for less.” And that means that retailers are going to have to rethink the patently false idea that younger women don’t need clothes in larger sizes, because money talks and changes things. Teens really do get the leftovers in curvy girl attire, since most brands are aimed at women, making teens and young women an afterthought.
“A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for most clothing, and it doesn’t work for marketing to consumers either,” added Cohen. Retailers, it’s time to start changing your thinking to what’s going on with women circa now, not years ago.