My recent post on vanity sizing generated a lot of discussion. I talked about the popular interpretation of this trend, which is that the industry is pandering to our egos as we get larger as a population, but Kathleen from Fashion Incubator offered a different perspective. It is worth bringing this out of the comments and into the main page because Kathleen is a pattern maker and has a true insider’s viewpoint on production as it happens in factories today.

Kathleen’s main point is that, far from being about our egos, the evolution of the sizing curve is driven by efficient material utilization…

“Consider: most manufacturers cut a size range of 6-14, nearly all do, if not, 8-16. Now, sales wise, the vast majority of orders are in the center of the size spread. Now, as the average person gets heavier, over time, sales begin to weigh in (excuse the pun) on the upper end of the size range so the size spread is off kilter. Now why does this matter? It matters because of marker design and allocation (arcane as I said). To make an efficient marker (keep fabric waste to a minimum) you need balance. For every size 6, you need a size 14. For every size 8, you need a size 12. The 6/14 and 8/12 balance each other in a marker. So, if you have orders for too many of the larger sizes and not enough of the smaller sizes because people are getting fatter, you don’t have balance because now you need 3 size 12’s for every size 8 or 2 size 14s for every size 6. So, you change the sizing structure. This way it rebalances.”

Read more detail in Kathleen’s comment itself, or take a look at the related entries on her blog:

• Fit and sizing entropy
• Sizing evolution

No doubt the industry uses our egos as a powerful marketing tool (and I’m still suspicious of those “skinny mirrors”), but they also drive profits by reducing production costs. And regardless of the industry’s motivation, this sizing evolution trend will probably continue as long as we are getting larger on average. My advice to men and women who are faced with being “sized out” of American clothing labels (when the smallest size available is too big) is to shop European and Asian clothing labels instead.

“Vanity sizing” is a term for the industry’s practice of inflating the dimensions associated with a particular size tag over time. What was considered an American size 8 a decade ago will pass for a size 4 today. Size inflation becomes more extreme the further back in time we go. Marilyn Monroe’s voluptuous size 12 body would probably fit into the equivalent of what we know as a size 6 today.

How this phenomenon started is anyone’s guess. It is thought that vanity sizing is “designed to satisfy the buyer’s wish to appear thin“. This boosts self esteem and thereby ensures the sale of a garment. Designers and manufacturers were quick to realize that there was money to be made by satisfying perceived insecurities.

The increasing dimensions of garments have subsequently caused retailers to introduce additional size designations at the low end of their size ranges (0, 00, or subzero sizes). This is hilarious! Next thing you know, a healthy size 8 will be wearing  a size 0 and a tiny size 0 will be in a size marked “negative 8″.  At the end of the day, there is no getting away from the fact that we live in a fashion world in which smaller clothing sizes are an obsession.

If you’d like to learn more about vanity sizing, Wikipedia is a good place to find related articles. What are your thoughts on downsizing size tags as a way of fooling us into a false sense of security?

There are four seasons in a calendar year, but only two seasons in the clothing retail year. The fashion industry focuses on Spring and Autumn collections. Here’s what this means for the Northern Hemisphere (this is basically inverted South of the Equator):

• Spring is about the warmer seasons. The collections run from February to June. July, at the end of the season, is the biggest sale month. You’ll find real Summer merchandise in stores from April onwards.
• Autumn (or Fall) is about the cooler months. The collections run from August to December and January is the big Sale month. Winter merchandise is in stores from October onwards.

You won’t hear designers and buyers referring to Summer and Winter collections because in the fashion world, they don’t exist! Summer merchandise is included in the Spring Collection, while Winter merchandise is packaged with the Autumn collection. When the fashion industry refers to the Spring trends, this includes Summer (and the same holds true for Autumn and Winter).

From a retail perspective in the Northern Hemisphere, we’ll soon be putting Spring 2007 to bed as Autumn collections start to hit shelves in mid-July. Stay tuned for what’s in store for us for Fall!

Piperlime is “a fresh on-line shoe shop offering a hand-picked selection of the world’s best footwear brands for women, men and kids”. Gap Inc. launched the on-line startup in October 2006 so that “the Gap customer could be dressed from head to toe.” Shipping is free (both ways) and shoe selections are focused specifically on the needs of the “Gap customer”. On-line shoe retail giants like Zappos and Endless remain the market leaders, offering larger selections of shoes and accessories; but there is something to be said for a smaller and more focused shoe shopping site. It’s easier to navigate and less overwhelming. In the light of their declining sales and the closing of Forth & Towne, I hope that Gap’s new shoe fits.

Sneakers for the whole family (women, men and kids) from Pipelime.

Spring 2007 promised us an explosion of bright colours. While we’ve seen smatterings of yellow, cobalt, coral and green clothing, there’s still a fortune of black, white, brown and beige around. A substantial part of the colour for Spring in American retail stores is represented by accessories rather than clothing.

As a lover of bright colours, I’ve felt a dash disappointed. After two back-to-back strong Black & White seasons (Spring and Winter 2006), my clients and I have been champing at the bit for anything that’s not a neutral. US retailers J. Crew and Macy’s have been colour leaders this season along with Spanish stores Zara and Mango; but I still feel that Spring could have been more colourful.

I spoke to a few major chain stores about my disappointment. Their feedback was unanimous: American retailers have often “overdone” bright clothing in the past and reams of rainbow coloured items have found themselves on markdown rails as the result of poor sales. So fashion buyers are cautious this time around. Still, the likes of Ann Taylor, The Loft,  Nordstrom, The Gap, Banana Republic, The Limited and Express reassured me that brights like red, turquoise, yellow, blue, green and pink would surface in May.

Part of my shopping faith was restored at Express yesterday as rails of brightly coloured walk shorts, blousy tops and camisoles were being unpacked.  Hold on to your fashion dollars for a week or two if it’s colours that you’re after. Brights are on the way in May.

Here’s another relevant piece of information regarding the skinny model controversy (see “Can fashion models be too thin?“) – a set of recommendations released earlier this year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA):

Keep models under 16 off the runway and don’t allow models under 18 to work at fittings or photo shoots past midnight.

Educate those in the industry to identify the early warning signs of eating disorders.

Require models identified as having an eating disorder to receive professional help and only allow those models to continue with approval from that professional.

Develop workshops on the causes and effects of eating disorders, and raise awareness of the effects of smoking and tobacco-related disease.

During fashion shows, provide healthy meals and snacks, while prohibiting smoking and alcohol.

These are merely suggestions and will not be enforced.

The question of unhealthy body mass indexes (BMIs) was not addressed. According to their statement:

“The CFDA is about awareness and education, not policing. Therefore, the committee is not recommending that models get a doctor’s physical examination to assess their health or body-mass index to be permitted to work. Eating disorders are emotional disorders that have psychological, behavioral, social, and physical manifestations, of which body weight is only one.”

Another indication that the ultra skinny model will be around as long as super–slim sells.

A few weeks ago Gap Inc. announced that it was shutting down it’s newest chain, Forth & Towne. The decision was taken in an effort to focus on fixing persistent problems in the company’s two largest brands, Gap and Old Navy. This is a great pity. Forth & Towne was launched 18 months ago to appeal to women over the age of 35. Their merchandise is beautiful, appropriate, affordable and desirable. But obviously not desirable enough. After a thorough analysis, Gap Inc. concluded that  Forth & Towne “would not demonstrate enough potential to deliver an acceptable long-term return on investment.”

Buy up what you can – Gap’s about to leave Towne.

Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Claudia  Schiffer , Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour and Christie Turlington. Remember the rise of the 80’s and ‘90’s supermodel? These glamorous women graced the covers of fashion magazines and strutted down catwalk runways with poise, panache, personality and individuality. Each was towering and stunning in their own way and demanded nothing less than $10,000 a show. They were just as famous (or infamous) as movie stars and celebrities.

Today’s models are different. They are still stereotypically beautiful (and arguably too thin), just younger, more doll-like, less expensive to hire and with less personality on the runway. Most of this new breed of model is Eastern European or Russian and they all look the same: perfectly symmetrical faces, deeply set wide eyes, strong jaw lines, pointy noses and pouty lips. They are usually between the ages of 16 and 20 and march on and off runways like robots. The “ attitude” is deliberately no longer there.

Designers opted to evolve the fashion model so that nothing would take away from their clothing creations. The exuberant personality of a highly paid supermodel eventually became an unaffordable distraction to their garments. The qualities of fashion models therefore had to change to reflect the new needs of designers. As a result, fashion shows have become more like garment processions as opposed to a source of excitement and entertainment.

With the new breed of model being less entertaining, celebrities now often feature on the covers of fashion magazines as a more desirable source of glamour and personality. And ethereal, waif-like, youthful and nondescript fashion soldiers remain the current choice for catwalk runways. Ironically, as highly successful models like Kate Moss, Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum have proven, personality is still a pre-requisite for models who want to stay in the game for longer than 2-3 years.

My perfect pants length mantra is seldom followed by fashion models who sport the pages of catalogues, websites and magazines. The hems of their pants hardly ever skim the surface of the floor (which is what I encourage to increase your style quotient). Have you ever wondered why this is? The answer might not be what you expect.

A modeling photo shoot for a garment that the buyer has ordered for a retail store is usually done 2-4 months before the garment is available in stores, and even before the actual order has been produced or delivered. The clothing that the models wear for the shoot are the standard prototypes that the retail buyers use to approve the final order. These prototypes are made in regular lengths (32-33 inch seams) because they need to comply with store approved size specifications. Models, however, are very tall and would ordinarily buy their pants with extra length (34 to 36 inch seams).  It’s no wonder that their pant lengths fall short when they have to model prototypes that are designed for real women.

For a retailer to request an additional prototype with a longer inseam length for advertising purposes (so that the model can sport perfect pants lengths) may seem like an easy solution, but it’s virtually impossible. Clothing manufacturers operate on extremely tight budgets and timelines. They jump through many tedious and bureaucratic  hoops to get the prototype of an order approved by the buying department. To do this twice would delay production which would in turn harm store sales.

Designer fashion shows are different. Models on the runway wear garments that are customized for their bodies – which is why their pants are usually the correct length.

So it’s all about money! Hopefully sites like mine can help you to make sense of the fashion industry’s idiosyncrasies. Are there other things that puzzle you in the world of fashion retail? Let me know in the comments or privately on Ask Angie and I’ll try to address them in future blog entries.

Great pants, poor lengths. Examples from Banana Republic and Ann Taylor. 

Absolutely. Madrid’s Fashion week announcement to ban ultra-skinny models from it’s catwalks in September last year caused tremors in the fashion world. Models with a BMI (body mass index) of less than 18 would not be allowed to walk. Lanky 5-foot-9 models weighing in at less than 125 pounds (56kg) were therefore sent away. The ban was enforced in an attempt to promote beauty and health. Emaciated models in magazines and fashion shows are said to be linked to eating-disorders when impressionable young women try to emulate these looks, and consequently starve themselves to “super-model thinness”.

As a result, Milan, Paris, New York and London have also been forced to look carefully at the issue of underweight models at their fashion shows. However, fashion councils in various countries are not in agreement: 

“I think its outrageous, I understand they want to set this tone of healthy beautiful women, but what about discrimination against the model and what about the freedom of the designer,” said Gould, Elite’s North America director, adding that the move could harm careers of naturally “gazelle-like” models.

Organizers of London Fashion Week announced their position on Sunday, stating that ultra–skinny models would not be banned from Autumn 2007 collections next week.

“We believe that regulation is neither desirable nor enforceable. What will make a difference is the commitment of the fashion industry to change attitudes through behaviour and education.”

Does the fashion industry have a responsibility to portray healthy body images? Should the industry stipulate precise guidelines for “healthy looking models”? Should these guidelines be enforced? Regulation of this sort seems to infringe the freedom of the industry participants, but without it the models seem skinnier every year.

Despite the lack of regulation for next weeks trend showcase in London, the British Fashion Council has added that it would…

“…consult health and eating disorder experts, members of the fashion industry, the media and young women in order to create new guidelines for the fashion industry”

Whether designers select healthy looking models to walk their creations this week remains to be seen. I’m looking forward to watching the weight debate unfold. What are your views on the skinny model controversy?