saksfifthavenue.com
Like many high end stores, Saks Fifth Avenue has a reputation for catering to the haute end of the fashion spectrum. Typically, this falls into the category of “skinny”. Perhaps not the sort of thin profile which haunts the catwalk, but slim nevertheless. Saks, though, has taken the first step towards changing its image: offering a selection of plus size designer clothing in its flagship New York City store.
The Process
The initial test has put in perspective the word “selection”, perhaps best described as limited. Severely limited. While a variety of designers will be represented in the trial, including such names as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Dolce & Gabbana, the number of pieces will be rationed. The sizes will be raised to a US 14 in many styles and some will even make it to a US 20. It is anticipated, though, that only one of each new size will be available in each style. Whatever progress this represents, it is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the market.
The Reality
saksfifthavenue.com
The market for plus size clothing is under-served to begin with; the market for plus size designer is nearly invisible. With just a smattering of styles selected, and only one to two pieces of each new size created, the affect is almost non-existent. In theory, a number of women could finally possess a valued piece of clothing; in reality, since women who choose to purchase designer clothing clearly have disposable income, only a few women are likely to buy any. Many of the pieces could be snatched up by a single person. Ultimately, it is irrelevant whether or not a few of several women manage to get hold of these designer pieces. The market will still remain unserved.
The limited run also means that the new lines will not be rolled out until the success has been established. Ultimately, Saks decides that its experiment was unsucessful, few women in the United States will benefit. If Saks had instead chosen to roll out the change nationwide rather than confining it to merely one city, the effect would be easier to extrapolate. As it stands now, the only thing that will be known is how women inundated with high fashion react. The effect would be more significant if it was demonstrated that women in less fashion concerned areas reacted, compared to similar women in more fashion conscious New York City.
saksfifthavenue.com
Finally, despite the “plus sizes” which have been rolled out, plus size has relatively little meaning. Women’s clothing sizes have changed drastically over the recent decades. Witness the often made comments about Marilyn Monroe: yes, she needed a size 16 at times, but that size 16 was a fair bit smaller than our size 16. So a woman may wear a size 12 in 2010, while that was a larger size ten or twenty years ago. The term plus size has a reasonably consistent meaning now, but its connotation will shift with the times.
Saks Fifth Avenue’s experiment is laudable and can do no harm. It might even do a fair bit of good. At the very least, it is recognizing a portion of the market which, despite the percentage of women it includes, has been ignored and even denigrated. Unfortunately, the way the experiment has been designed virtually guarantees that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to understand how the public in different markets will respond. What the store has done is to be commended, but this is still ignoring the market somewhat. Just because one store in one city has begun to carry an extremely limited number of plus sized clothing articles does not mean that the plus size industry is being addressed. Indeed, it is being experimented upon, not served. While the process may transform into service, it is not there yet.
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