Sorry, Middle America: You’re Too Fat for Zara

[Skinny Gurl]

http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/11/sorry-middle-america-youre-too-fat-for-zara.html

I thought this was an interesting article. I'm glad to see that Zara isn't giving in to the fatties here in the US.

Your thoughts?

 

[mulberry]

Good on them for taking a stand.

The more clothes increase in size the more weight people will gain. I believe that clothing sizes in shops are a sort of validation, like they represent 'normalcy' and they could probably do with going down a size or two rather than up!

 

[jbeyes]

wow, businesses falling apart because "regular people" from those places don't fit into the clothes? I can only imagine walking down a street in these cities and 8/10 people being completely overweight. Is it really like that girls? Here in my country it's not that bad...

 

[SugarFree]

"Zara to me is a European store for European style; it's very fashion forward.
And what is the problem in America? They don't fit in the clothes. So why do it?"

 

[leangirlforlife]

ick! my country is just so shameful sometimes

thank goodness i'm on the west coast (there's still quite a few fatties, but there's alot of skinnies too )

 

[leila]

Yeah I live on the east coast so somewhat sheltered from the horrors of middle america....but this is plain scary

 

[Mementomoria]

Honestly I think it's a savvy move on Zara's part.

Zara markets itself as an affordable fashion brand, but even affordable fashion is often somewhat exclusive. For example, the cuts of a lot of their pieces would not be flattering to someone who was bigger than their sizes currently run. So, Zara avoids a) allowing women to look like crap in their pieces, which would be terrible marketing, and b) putting skinny women in the same styles as their bigger counterparts (Banana Republic & Ann Taylor, I'm looking at you).

 

[Intrinsicality]

Truth is Zara DOES have 'plus' sized clothes....just not 'plus sized' as some american's get.

So. Good Move Zara - retain your integrity.

 

[skinny4ever]

Yes, very sad. Vanity sizing unfortunately punishes us, the skinnies. The fatties don't care about Zara. They would probably fight to keep it away.

 

[curlycue]

I clicked all the way through to the original NYT article.

Zara's issue in the States is very supply-chain related. Since Zara is 'fast-fashion,' they have to deliver within two weeks to keep stock fresh. More sizes = more patterns = longer development and production time. Additionally, carrying more sizes means a higher inventory, which is something 'fast-fashion' places like Zara have to minimize. Zara also doesn't advertise, which means the customer is the advertisement. Therefore, they don't want fat girls ruining the aesthetic of tailored European clothing.

I think the real clever move on Zara's part is to ignore the US in favor of China. China won't have as much breadth in sizing and will eventually be a bigger market than the US.

tl;dr - It's all about $$$ and fatties don't matter enough on the bottomline.

 

[SatelliteEyes]

Zara's sizing is preeeetty generous, if you struggle to stuff yourself into their biggest size, seriously. Go home. Just jog home and think for a minute.

 

[Skinny Gurl]

Honestly I think it's a savvy move on Zara's part.

Zara markets itself as an affordable fashion brand, but even affordable fashion is often somewhat exclusive. For example, the cuts of a lot of their pieces would not be flattering to someone who was bigger than their sizes currently run. So, Zara avoids a) allowing women to look like crap in their pieces, which would be terrible marketing, and b) putting skinny women in the same styles as their bigger counterparts (Banana Republic & Ann Taylor, I'm looking at you).

I clicked all the way through to the original NYT article.

Zara's issue in the States is very supply-chain related. Since Zara is 'fast-fashion,' they have to deliver within two weeks to keep stock fresh. More sizes = more patterns = longer development and production time. Additionally, carrying more sizes means a higher inventory, which is something 'fast-fashion' places like Zara have to minimize. Zara also doesn't advertise, which means the customer is the advertisement. Therefore, they don't want fat girls ruining the aesthetic of tailored European clothing.

I think the real clever move on Zara's part is to ignore the US in favor of China. China won't have as much breadth in sizing and will eventually be a bigger market than the US.

tl;dr - It's all about $$$ and fatties don't matter enough on the bottomline.

Great, well thought out statements, which I agree with

 

[classichic]

Well whatever Zara is doing is working. Zara does really well. The only problem with Zara is you can tell when someone is wearing Zara like Topshop but I prefer Zara because their sizes fit me better whereas Topshop is too big on me. And as @curlycue mentioned it's all about girls being the advertisers so it would be a bad move to try and appeal to America and right now China is the one with the $$$ so strategically speaking it makes sense. Before Chinese used to complain about Western stores not fitting them well and now stores are expanding into Asia. Maybe they'll even introduce some smaller sizes. If they do, I'll have to get my dad to get me stuff from there rather than the US. It's all about the money. If America was doing well then they will definitely consider moving into the US.

I buy a few stuff from Zara and it's a little big but some of their kids stuff is really good and stylish unlike other kids clothing.

 

[Celestial]

Middle America is too afraid to say they are fat.

 

[AnastasiaB]

What about the quality of the clothing? Living in Middle America I was so excited when an H&M opened near me only to discover the clothing while inexpensive in price are also very cheap in quality. I figure since these are trendy clothing not expected to be in style for very long there is not a lot of effort making them to last.

 

[els]

What about the quality of the clothing? Living in Middle America I was so excited when an H&M opened near me only to discover the clothing while inexpensive in price are also very cheap in quality. I figure since these are trendy clothing not expected to be in style for very long there is not a lot of effort making them to last.

IMO the quality is bit better than at H&M (I can't stand H&M) but the clothes at Zara are also significantly more expensive. I mean not unbelievable expensive but there are a lot of things I simply can't afford as young girl. And often I can buy something that's better in quality for the same price at another store.
Of course there are a lot of very nice clothes and I think it gets closer to "high fashion" than H&M for example but.. you know.. IMO it's like buying eggs for 15$ at a grocery store instead for 2$ at another one, just because I can afford it.
By the way, I live in Germany

I recommend shopping at Zara, Mango etc. in Spain and Italy. It's a lot cheaper in those countries because there's their "origin".

 

[sore]

i do sometimes have trouble with zara sizes because the clothes are too short on me.

 

[caserene]

Zara's sizing is preeeetty generous, if you struggle to stuff yourself into their biggest size, seriously. Go home. Just jog home and think for a minute.

Ugh, exactly! I made the mistake of buying a size S shirt that was NOT cheap but didn't have time to try it on...I haven't shopped at Zara for years so totally forgot, but... it's just HUGE on me.

And I live in a country where women are getting SKINNIER than ever before...I don't know why they do so well here!

 

[amincer]

i do sometimes have trouble with zara sizes because the clothes are too short on me.

I have the same issue! they fit in the waist but they're like high-waders. Just our price to pay for long legs, I suppose.

 

[Emerald Eyes]

The future queen of England wearing Zara....

'Nuff said...