Here's Exactly How Many NYFW Designers Make Clothing for the Average American Woman
When it comes to size inclusivity in fashion, slow and steady is the name of the game. We've seen some progress, particularly in the last few seasons, but designers still seem to have trouble producing clothing to fit the majority of American women. As Racked reported in June, Plunkett Research, a company that analyzes industry trends, found that 68 percent of American women wear a size 14 or larger — but exactly how many designers are actually serving that demographic with clothing that fits them?
To shed some light on where the industry stands right now with regards to size inclusivity, we surveyed every designer on the official CFDA calendar, asking designers, publicists, and retail stores what size ranges they actually produce and sell. We sent close to a hundred emails, made dozens of calls, and spent at least one day tromping around Manhattan to poke around in retail stores, all to get a sense of which brands are putting their money where their mouths are and actually creating clothing for the average American woman — and which brands are falling short.
Here's what we found:
VIDEO: Christian Siriano's 10th Anniversary Show
A few things about our survey.
We only surveyed designers that could be found on the official CFDA calendar here.
We only included women’s ready-to-wear brands (denim and men’s, for example, were excluded).
We did not include designers that only create custom clothing or do not sell in retail (like The Blonds).
Brands that answered us in European sizes were converted to US sizing using this chart.
For brands that size XS-XXL, we used the following conversion: XS= 0, S=2/4, M=6/8, L=10/12, XL=14/16, XXL=18/20. This was based on the average of the designers’ conversion estimations.
In the instance that a designer offers extended sizing per request but does not produce it across the majority of their products, we went with the size run they create all pieces in.
Here's how the size offerings break down by brand:
Up to Size 28
Christian Siriano
Up to Size 26
Derek Lam
Up to Size 24
Tadashi Shoji
Vaquera
Up to Size 22
Kith
John Elliott
Prabal Gurung
Up to Size 20
Brandon Maxwell
Marchesa
Libertine
LUAR
Up to Size 18
Chromat
Escada
Up to Size 16
Brock Collection
Carolina Herrera
Chiara Boni la Petite Robe
J. Mendel
Kate Spade New York
Naeem Khan
Oscar de la Renta
Pyer Moss
Ralph Lauren
Veronica Beard
Up to Size 14
BOSS
Jason Wu
Kim Shui
Mansur Gavriel
Michael Kors
Monse
Novis
Nicole Miller
Pamella Roland
Sally Lapointe
The Row
Tory Burch
Yeolee
Zero + Meria Cornejo
Up to Size 12
3.1 Philip Lim
alice + olivia
Anna Sui
Calvin Klein
Calvin Luo
Christian Cowan
Christopher John Rogers
Cinq a Sept
Collina Strada
Diane von Furstenberg
Dennis Basso
Eckhaus Latta
Haus Alkire
Hellessy
Ji Won Choi
Jonathan Simkhai
LaQuan Smith
Mara Hoffman
Marina Moscone
Milly
PH5
Proenza Schouler
rag & bone
Rodarte
Yuna Yang
Zang Toi
Up to Size 10
ADEAM
Area
Claudia Li
Coach
Dion Lee
Gabriela Hearst
Lela Rose
Longchamp
Linder
Marc Jacobs
Noon by Noor
Opening Ceremony
Self-Portrait
Snow Xue Gao
Tome
Ulla Johnson
Vivienne Tam
Zimmermann
Up to Size 8
A Detacher
Moon Choi
Romeo Hunte
The numbers tell a story: the NYFW designers, who arguably set the tone for the entire industry, aren't even making products that most of us can buy. While we take pleasure in reviewing their collections, seeing the new trends, and watching designers express themselves on the runway, one has to ask: who are we doing this all for, anyway? And how do we get to a place where clothing is created for women — all women — to actually wear?