Target, for instance, cast Zach Miko to be the face of their men's big and tall section in 2015, leading IMG to sign him as the agency's very first plus-size male model.Īfter spending three years designing specifically with the bigger male in mind through Brandon Kyle, Coates confirms that retailers are finally acknowledging that plus menswear isn't just a passing fad, justifying his hard work. Besides treating them as deserving customers who appreciate trends just as much as the average-sized dude, they're stepping up their marketing game as well.
Fast fashion brands like ASOS and Fashion Nova, along with big box retailers such as Target and Walmart, are finally opening their eyes to the needs of the bigger guy. Luckily, there are some bright spots that signal change may be coming sooner than we think. "I don't want to say a big and tall men's store is a doomed business, but it does not have an attractive outlook." "For the online retailer, it's a lot easier to manage a lot of SKUs at lower cost," he explains. "Plus, they want to go where their friends go." Because of this, Jaffe believes the future of stand-alone stores dedicated to bigger waistlines is unlikely. "With the men's waist constantly expanding, vanity sizing is going to continue to happen," he says. His thinking is due to the prevalence of vanity sizing within the industry and the stigma many guys still feel shopping in a dedicated plus-sized section. Retail analyst Richard Jaffe doubts the in-store experience will improve. Within their entire menswear collection, Stitch Fix has now grown from 160 style and fit combinations to over 800 in less than three years.
Last fall when they launched their men's extended sizing division, they garnered a 25,000-person waitlist, confirming suspicions about just how hungry male shoppers are for trendy, well-fitted options. Another major player who's forging the way in terms of fit is Stitch Fix, the e-commerce company which is using its data to make traditional brands a little more woke about plus-size needs. Sturgell applauds Bonobos' efforts to focus on how clothes look and fit on non-traditional male body parts with their new plus size initiative, and slowly, but surely, other brands are catching on as well. "They're not thinking about how a shirt will fit on someone who has more of a gut." "The biggest problem that plus-size men run into is that many brands who are getting into the game and offering extended sizes aren't making the clothes specifically for bigger bodies," says Sturgell. Guys' silence also makes it difficult for companies to figure out the fits and styles that big and tall men crave in retail. Must Read: Rosalía Is the Newest Face of Skims, Tom Ford Steps Down as CFDA Chairman So why isn't plus-size menswear garnering the attention it deserves? Well, it's complicated. For men, however, growth in extended sizing is paling in comparison, despite the average man having a forty-inch waist. According to Coresight Research, the womenswear segment of the plus size market was valued at $21.4 billion as of 2016, and it continues to be one of the fastest growing apparel categories. Over the past few years, this very debate around body size, diversity and inclusion within the fashion industry has picked up steam thanks to a rise of outspoken influencers, brand incentives and the body positivity movement. "It's a conversation that goes well above and beyond fashion."Īt Stitch Fix, the Key to Improving the Plus-Size Market Is in the Dataġ3 New Plus Size and Size Inclusive Brands That Launched in 2018 Generalizations that because someone is fat, they're lazy, don't care about how they look, they don't care about style and that they don't deserve any of these things, including dignity," explains Sturgell. "These ideas that people have aren't right.
The reasoning for this lack of fashion-forward designs? For decades, the notion that bigger guys don't care about their appearance has been an underlying misconception rampant among the menswear industry and society at large.