THE COLLABORATION
Topshop is one of the most iconic brands within the fashion industry, however many consumers feel they have lost their heritage with the shapes it caters for.
The hourglass shape originates from the early 1940's, an iconic moment for women gaining power. With controversial mannequin figures being big news in 2015, with many complaining they use models which look like "famine victims" it puts their consumer into doubt about the sizes they cater for.
With Topshop trialling size 18 in certain garments this is the prime time to look at pieces which enhance the hourglass figure.
With the average size of a woman in the UK being a size 12, Topshops size range spans from 4 – 18. This provides equal range around the average. Feedback from market research told us that women generally over the size of 12 wouldn't look to shop in Topshop due to the shapes in the collections being unflattering on their body. We spoke to the Head Visual Merchandiser within Topshop Norwich Michaela B . She told us that the stores range caters very much for the “smaller, more petite client” this is due to Norwich becoming a student city, with one of the largest university's a short distance from the city centre. The most popular size in store spans from 6 – 10, making these the sizes stocked in the key drivers first. These take priority over any others as the brand knows that these will sell no matter the footfall in store. Plus size women are feeling frustrated as they feel like they are being segregated from the on trend pieces. This is what our collection wants to change. By giving every size an equal opportunity to the same garment, there will be no segregation.
The collection for every model