New Marketing for Plus Size Fashions

Some sponsors of CurvyCon 2017

At CurvyCon, a recent fashion-week event featuring plus-size women's fashions, the CEO of plus-size fashion subscription firm Dia & Co observed: "We are so far away from true size inclusivity when it comes to fashion." In the words of entrepreneur CeCe Olisa, "if every brand carried every size, then we wouldn’t have to specify plus-size or not." CurvyCon attracted a lot of sponsors eager to reach this target market, estimated at $21 billion--and growing quickly.

It's a new marketing era for "plus size" amid rebranding to avoid negative connotations and signal a better understanding of consumer behavior in this target market. For example, after listening to customer feedback, women's clothing in larger sizes at Kmart will now be marketed as "fabulously sized."


More fashions for this market are on the way. PVH, which counts Calvin Klein among its brands, has recognized the profit potential in plus, and is marketing a new line of plus-sized lingerie. PVH recently acquired True & Co, which is established in the plus lingerie business.

A growing number of online marketers are targeting plus women, from ModCloth to EShakti and Eloquii. ModCloth's CEO notes: "There’s this belief that plus-size customers simply don’t spend as much — but that is only because of a lack of choice." His firm's research found that this target market would spend more if fashions in their sizes were available. And they tend to shop more frequently, another plus for plus size marketing.