FEATURE
IN ORDER TO CATER TO A
MAJORITY OF CUSTOMERS WHO
HAVE THE QUINTESSENTIAL INDIAN
PHYSIQUE, THE NECESSITY TO
REINVENT PLUS-SIZE CLOTHING
HAS BECOME THE CALL OF DUTY.
MARKET DYNAMICS
Plus-size clothing has always occupied a niche
territory in the market. Initially, finding oversized
clothing was an issue but much has changed
over the years. Today, this booming industry
bears witness to a bouquet of styles, trends, and
changing fashion sensibilities. Although plus-size
clothing has been around since long, experts
believe that it is especially being noticed today,
owing to increasing shopping platforms. The ease
to shop from anywhere with just the click of a
button has opened up and diversified the market,
which, in turn, has pushed the plus-size segment
towards immense growth.
Moreover, a recent market report has
predicted that the plus-size clothing segment is all
set to become a US$5–6 billion market by 2020.
Indian brands establish that the Indian body type
is unique, and in order to cater to a majority of
customers who have the quintessential Indian
physique, the necessity to reinvent plus-size
clothing has become the call of duty. In fact,
customising Western clothing for the Indian build
has inspired brands to bring to life certain cuts
and patterns that complement every (Indian’s)
body type and style sensibilities.
Retailers such as Pantaloons, Biba, Amydus,
and Mustard are some of the most noteworthy
Indian brands that are bringing in more style into
their exclusive range of plus-size garments. In
fact, these brands have gone beyond launching
just a single collection, to open exclusive bricks-
and-mortar stores for the plus-size category.
Falling in line with these brands, online fashion
retailers such as Myntra have ventured into plus-
size clothing with a wide array of brands offering
sizes ranging from 2XL to 5XL. Sindrellastorie,
owned by plus-size blogger-turned-entrepreneur
Vigya Walia Kaushik, is another online
marketplace that caters to the clothing needs of
‘curvy’ women.
MARKET INNOVATION
Most of these retailers maintain that almost
30 per cent of their customer base in India looks
for plus-size clothing; the womenswear section
for the same experiences maximum influx.
46
I APPAREL I
June 2019