Hey curvy girls all over the world,
Last week, the internet was buzzing with discriminatory statements from Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries. According to Business Insider, “Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t stock XL or XXL sizes in women’s clothing because they don’t want overweight women wearing their brand. “
the CEO said, “He doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people. He doesn’t want his core customers to see people who aren’t as hot as them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like they’re one of the ‘cool kids.’
I’m not an Abercrombie & Fitch shopper and even when I could fit their clothes, they never really appealed to me. The problem I have with statements like this is the pure sheer ignorance of the person who makes them. I do believe that designers and retailers have their own vision and the right to make clothes for whatever size they want. I respect if plus size is not their vision.
What I don’t respect is comments that imply fat women are unattractive, lazy, and just plain too big to deserve nice, stylish, well made clothes.
Designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford have also made ignorant statements about plus size women and fashion. Even the CEO of Zara the number one and fastest growing retail chain has made statements that large women don’t belong in their clothes. To be so blatant about size discrimination is mind boggling to me. How do these retailers get away with this type of behavior?
To even say that plus size women aren’t attractive or are not one of the cool kids is beyond ridiculous.
There are quite a few brands like Forever 21 and H&M who offer plus sizes or even sizes above a 10 that do very well. Unfortunately we still live in the world that doesn’t see beauty in plus size women bodies. There are still tons of retailers who are afraid to make the shift and carry sizes above a 14 even though 67% of the American population is a size 14 plus.
One of the reasons I think the fashion industry and retail industry are so anti plus is that it is predominantly ran by men with outdated views on beauty. If you think about it, most of the negative comments about plus size women in the fashion industry commonly come from men. That is not say that there aren’t women in the fashion industry who don’t like plus because there are. When leaders and CEOs of famous brands give out such statements, it creates a negative perception towards the population they are speaking about. It does the opposite of promoting inclusion and diversity, and it often becomes difficult for those struggling with body image issues to be confident about themselves. If more of these leaders got together in supportive peer groups for CEOs, where they come across a myriad different people, and are exposed to a plethora of ideas, it could act as fuel in helping them learn about inclusion and open-mindedness.
Maybe retailers should just stop making assumptions about plus size consumers and actually do the research and come up with real marketing campaigns that show plus size women are attractive, sexy, and for lack of a better phrase, are cool kids.
What are your thoughts on Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries comments about larger people? Leave a comment.
For more on this article, head to Business Insider
Wow…well…last week I heard about this. I told myself…Eff them and that I wasn’t going to sign a petition for them to say sorry or whatever. I don’t shop there, I’ve never been into their clothes. They appeal did a different market and even “culture” within America. So this City girl who grew up in the hood wasn’t interested in wearing the type of clothes they sold. Esp not the clothes that the mean chicks at school wore. I was never sold on their marketing either…it was so corny and fake to me.
But here is where I was wrong in my reaction. My first reaction was that…who cares. He is entitled, but I let that sit for a minute…and as I thought about his comments. There is one thing to say, hey, we don’t want to sell bigger clothes, but like tyrese’s comments they were to far and dig at a deeper issue. I think the stereotype of “larger” women is so flawed in the first place. People don’t see larger women as ranging in different sizes and being beautiful they just see the bigger women who are made fun of on tv, and in movies like shallow hal. That image to me is what people think of first. They think we are all the same. We all come in different sizes and not all of us are sitting around in hiding with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s eating away our sorrows. We have lives, we go out, we have BF/GF’s , we have a social life, and we love clothes that push the norm or what society thinks plus size women should wear. These CEOs aren’t exposed to people like us maybe, maybe they don’t have fat people working around them or for them, or keeping their lives in order or even related to them. This is the disconnect with idiots like the CEO. Personally I don’t think anybody is knocking down the doors of A&F. They have one vision of what it means to be bigger, the have one thought of how we act and what we do, and how we think. So they come out the mouth with these random, mean comments. I still don’t see any need for an apology because at the end of the day they will still stop selling our size, event though they never did and judging by what they have they wouldn’t make anything that i’d be happy to visit their store for.
Well written post!
Elle
Eat.Style.Play
I feel so comforted that we’re living in a time where plus-sized clothing options are rapidly expanding. Although the options are still far, far too limited, I feel like there are more choices for plus-sized women than ever before, and a lot of it is because more and more businesses are starting to realize the tremendous untapped business value in the plus sized consumer, who does want to look stylish and who has money to spend. Eventually these CEOs like the Zara dude or the Abercrombie guy the will learn that being a fat-hating jerk is bad for business.
I also want to thank you, Alissa, for your work on this blog, especially your outfit posts. Living proof of real women looking fabulous, sexy, and stylish is the best way to combat the stereotypes that people above a size 10 are ugly or unattractive. The mainstream media doesn’t want to show these images, but you’re getting them out there anyway. I love that. You have been a huge inspiration for me.
You would think that designers would WANT curvier women to rock their clothing! Growing up I was made fun of and called ‘Skinny Mini’ so I’m not being biased when I say this lol Clothing always looks better when properly filled out and hugging curves. I’m from Toronto, and sadly the full figured fashion industry is growing at a MUCH slower pace on this side of the border. We have a few small boutiques but all of my curvier friends complain that they need to look online when shopping for a really hot outfit
Any ignorant designer that is unable to see an incredible market to break into and can’t see the beauty in the natural female form, deserves the bankruptcy that’s coming for them
http://www.do-you.ca
I will never ever buy me something from AandF … I got few shirts {fit in size L} but never gonna buy me another…blew….