Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | 8:10 a.m.
For decades consumers have been led to believe "thin is in."
The trouble is, thin isn't necessarily representative of many Americans.
"It used to be that your clothing had to be age appropriate. That's no longer true," said Mercedes Gonzalez, director of Global Purchasing Group (GPG), a clothing buyer for 100 independent specialty stores nationwide. "Now it has to be size appropriate.
"You've got an 18-year-old girl and she can be in a size 24 prom dress and a 50-year-old is literally a size 0."
According to statistics provided by GPG, one in three Americans is overweight, while the average dress size has increased from a size 6 in the 1950s to a size 14 in 2003.
In a Monday afternoon seminar at the MAGIC convention, the biannual Men's Apparel Guild in California fashion expo in Las Vegas, which runs through Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Gonzalez said plus-size clothing for men, women, teens and children is a $27 billion business. She also said it is the biggest untapped market in the fashion industry.
Despite that figure, Gonzalez said many designers remain unconvinced of the buying power of overweight Americans, and continue to focus on slimmer consumers.
"(Designer) Muccia Prada said she didn't want to make her clothing past a size 10 because it makes her clothing look hideous," Gonzalez said. "(Overweight consumers) are treated like a stepchild, with options limited to the very frumpy older customer.
"Meanwhile, they're saying we want color, we want prints. We want the same thing that everyone else has."
Shail Shah, owner of JNS Fashions, a Miami-based women's line of designer apparel, recognized the increasing demand for plus-size eight years ago. He even developed a special line of plus-size shirts, capris and jeans as part of his Cherry Krave junior label.
It was a wise move: Sales of his plus-size clothes now account for 60 percent of his total sales.
"We're getting orders left and right," he said. "People are coming up to me and hugging me, saying 'Oh my God, you have plus sizes. I've been looking for this.'
"Overweight women don't want to be held behind in fashions. They want to look desirable and that's what we do."
The plus-size clothing in the Cherry Krave line goes up to a 6X or, the equivalent of a size-36 dress, with the most popular piece being the baby-doll shirt, a loose, translucent top that resembles lingerie.
"It sounds odd," Jennifer Ruiz, a sales rep for JNS Fashions, said. "But it's exactly what they want.
"Bigger girls want to show more, dress like a junior."
It's not just overweight teenagers, however, who want to be fashionable.
As Baby Boomers grow older and, in some cases, bigger, they wish to remain fashionable and not dress in the typically frumpy plus-size clothing of years past.
"They don't want something that looks like a tent," said Karen Skrasek, a sales rep for novelty sweater designer Berek. "They want the same products a size 2 wears."
Skrasek said Berek began making sweaters for plus-size women five years ago, often taking the same styles of sweaters and increasing the sizes up to a 3X.
Just as with JNS Fashions, the plus-size line has sold well for Berek, with sales nearly matching that of its regular-size line.
"There's definitely a need," she said. "We're constantly expanding the extra-large sizes."
Making plus-size clothing, though, isn't as simple as adding more fabric and increasing the size.
A plus-size shirt, for example, requires bigger arm holes, but not necessarily bigger shoulders or a bigger back.
"The skeleton doesn't grow," said Steve Barraza, owner of Los Angeles-based sportswear maker Tianello, which offers plus-size blouses, skirts and tops for women. "You still have the frame of a regular-size woman, just with extra weight."
The difficulties in creating plus-size apparel has made many fashion designers hesitant to develop extra-large sizes or, in some cases, to charge more for the clothes.
The limited selection among designer threads, along with higher prices, has forced many overweight women to shop at plus-size chains such as Lane Bryant and department stores such as J.C. Penney and Sears, which offer clothes in above-average sizes, Barraza said.
"Women for years have had only a few options in purchasing the plus-size product," he said. "When many were looking for more style and fashion and willing to pay for it."
Ironically, fashionable plus-sizes in men's clothing isn't a problem. In fact, it's the trend.
"The little guy who wears a large shirt is wearing the XXL," said Theodore Heath, owner of Balla, a streetwear clothing company. "And when the big man comes to the store to buy his shirt, he can't get it.
"Go to a store and look for XL. You can't find it."
Heath said he carries up to 6XL in shirts and a size 60 in pants. He even designed an 8XL leather jacket for rapper Big Punisher (who suffered a fatal heart attack in February 2000).
The trend for going big in men's clothing has been going on for a few years, Heath said.
"Men want bigger," he said. "And women want tight and sexy."
While other men's designers such as Ralph Lauren have for years been making clothes in XXL sizes and larger, many women's designers are finally catching on as well.
Armani and Seven Jeans, among others, are now offering plus-size lines.
"It's better," Gonzalez said of the new high-fashion plus-size lines. "But I don't think it's keeping in pace with demand."'
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