LETTER FROM
THE EDITOR
HUFFINGTON
08.18.13
ART STREIBER
Sized Out
I
N THIS WEEK’S issue, Kim Bhasin takes
a look at some of the
ways major clothing
brands are excluding plus-sized
shoppers — and finally getting
called out for it.
We meet Elizabeth Licorish,
a Lululemon Athletica employee in Philadelphia who noticed
that large-sized clothes were being presented differently — they
tended to have outdated styles,
and were relegated to a separate
area at the back of the store, often
left clumped and unfolded under a
table. Customers got the message.
As Licorish put it, “moms would
come in with their daughters, look
around and say, ‘Clearly I can’t
shop here.’”
And Lululemon isn’t alone —
in recent months, consumer advocates have criticized several
prominent brands, including Abercrombie & Fitch, for “reinforcing their labels as status symbols
for the young, white and classically attractive.”
Despite the fact that retailers like H&M and Forever 21 have
recently released plus-size lines,
the industry has a long way to go
toward treating all their custom-
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