Some social media influencers whilst being great for brands are unwittingly helping to continue to foster the false view of 'real ladies' and dare I say it men's normal sizing which in turn means brands are missing a huge commercial opportunity.

What I mean by this is that today we and our children live in world where so called 'influencers' on social media still like to portray an unrealistic view of well, real people. Many social media Apps have all kinds of filters that allow us to 'airbrush' our post in order we look younger, geeky, and downright flawless.

There are a few companies developing tech that can help the consumer and retailer get 'fit' closer aligned to each other which helps the retailer with less returns and the consumer gets what they want, but what if that 'fit' doesn't include enough plus size items?

The article in the link below discusses the opportunity to service what is known as the 'plus size' sector, and how it's still being ignored.

 "Plus sizing is more like old thinking is what we've learned from people," she told Retail Dive in an interview. "They're not in the closet, they want fashion and they don't want to have to look like Victoria's Secret angels. It's a really healthy point of view, and there's a lot of unmet demand from women that are not size 0 to 12, from ages of 15 to 65 — from all women. Younger millennials and Gen Z have given voice to this, but it ripples throughout the entire female population."

That is propelling new direct-to-consumer brands, and, in some cases, the consumers, by necessity, have become the designers.

"I want the same thing that this tiny little model has, this young, vibrant, trendy girl, but then when you got to plus, it's a complete disconnect with who she was."

Keisha Holmes - Founder of Curvy Sense

Plus-size merchandising in stores has mostly been shunted into dark corners or special orders. "Always located upstairs, next to maternity," Keisha Holmes, who worked as a buyer for Frederick's of Hollywood and Forever 21 before founding her own label, Curvy Sense.

That's not where she wants to shop. Online shopping's made life so much easier. 

For many plus size customers they feel they're being patronised by brand and marketing messages that sit somewhere in the 1950's rather than a real understanding around 'authenticity'.

Social media is giving voice to the people who feel left out, the metrics associated with social commerce have opened up new opportunities for brands and designers wanting to go D2C, which in turn will look to cut out the retail middle man.

All because they understand the plus size markets 'WHY' better than others.

If you would like to learn more about this hidden gem here's the link to an article I wrote sometime ago about one of the UK's best kept plus size retail secrets.