Retailers are scaling back their plus-size ranges due to the number of Brits who have been turning to weight loss jabs to help them shift the pounds
Marks & Spencer and John Lewis are scaling back their plus-size ranges – as millions of Brits turn to weight loss jabs to help shift the pounds.
The high street fashion chains are two of many retailers that have reduced larger-sized clothing, recent analysis has shown. Reductions were found in particular for the largest sizes of 22 to 24, the study by retail intelligence platform Edited revealed.
There could be as many as one in eight Brits on some type of weight loss treatment by next year, it is believed. The study looked at the number of new listings for dresses on retailers’ websites and compared July and August this year with 2024.
At M&S, it found the proportion of new dresses offered as size 18 and above fell from 34% to 27% with only 0.4% of dresses being a size 22 to 24, down from 2.2% two years ago.
John Lewis’s range showed the largest sizes accounted for 19.2% of the range, down from 22.3% although the retailer’s overall number of plus-size dresses had increased.
Krista Corrigan, from Edited, said fashion retailers were “retreating from plus-size ranges” amid shifting strategies in response to “changing body compositions”.
However, there is concern that the new shift will mean larger people will be “shut out” of high street fashion and that the popularity of so-called fat jabs could have a negative effect on “inclusivity” among Gen Z and younger millennials.
An M&S spokesman said the firm offered “an extensive range of sizes across womenswear, with sizes 8-18 available across all stores” and sizes up to 24 “available online and in selected stores”.
A John Lewis spokesperson said: “We’re committed to inclusive fashion, and work closely with brands that specialise in plus-size fashion or offer extended sizing.”