The need for clothing that fits well on all sizes isn’t new. This has been a decades-long conversation, but the industry still hasn’t adopted a solution. But, why not? Why is the size-inclusive conversation still needed? I have a few thoughts.
One reason why we are still talking about size inclusivity is that designers are not educated well on how to really look at (and design for) different sized bodies. The industry (and fashion school in my experience) still focuses mainly on the smaller sizes. When I was in school, we only worked with size 2/4 dress forms, models, and sketch croquis in our classes.
Furthermore, our textbooks illustrate pattern drafts and measurements almost exclusively for small sizes. If a designer is only ever exposed to shapes and proportions that fit smaller bodies for their training, the proportions of larger bodies seem foreign to them and designing for diverse body types feels intimidating.
Also, the bigger brands who have dabbled in plus sizes collections, but done so poorly exacerbate the issue. These brands get negative feedback on their “inclusive” collections, but instead of improving their fit and offering, they give up and say that it is too hard to be profitable with a plus size collection. This further pushes designers towards focusing on small sizes.
Then there are those infamous brands that only want to see their clothes worn by a certain sized body and are exclusive on purpose. They don’t even want to talk about being size-inclusive.
Overall, the reasons I think we still need to talk about size inclusivity is a lack of experience/training in designing for larger bodies as well as the toxic perception in some realms of fashion that certain sizes are more worthy than others.