Zara announces new XXL sizes in stores

THE fashion and retail industry giant, Zara, has announced on May 23 that it will extend its sizes to XXL. 

Currently the largest clothing size available at the highly successful and popular clothing brand is XL. Principally, the XXL size will appear in only a few of the fashion label’s lines, but the policy will soon extend across the whole collection.

The move will allow Zara clothing to become available to a broader customer range. Perhaps it is following in the footsteps of rival retailer Mango, who launched a plus-size clothing brand, Violeta, to cater for those who loved Mango’s ethos and clothes, but needed larger sizes to be able to enjoy them.

Generally considered to be a high-street orientated store with affordable prices, Zara is part of the multi-billion Spanish clothing company, Inditex, which also owns other reasonably priced favourites such as Oysho, Pull and Bear and Bershka, as well as middle-range luxury brands such as Massimo Dutti and Uterque.

This decision by the trendy, multi-national and widely available brand will surely be welcomed by individuals who struggle to find suitable sizes, or feel they are discriminated against by the fashion industry because of their measurements. 

Fashion houses throughout the industry, whether they are haute couture or average-priced apparel, have, at some point, faced media backlash from individuals claiming that the fashion world is ‘size-ist’ and discriminatory, and that it is difficult to find clothes that are considered to be trendy or high-fashion in larger sizes.

Zara, an undoubted leader of fashion-forward designs for a wide international market, seem to be making an excellent move, both for their public image and the demands of their clients; this new addition to their size policy can be interpreted as a gesture of positivity and inclusion towards plus-sized fashion lovers.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of the Facebook scandal involving plus-sized model, Tess Holliday. Facebook have had to apologise to Holliday after removing a photo of the model wearing a bikini, which they believed depicted “body parts in an undesirable manner.”

Facebook initially defended their decision to ban the photograph by stating that it failed to comply with the site’s “health and fitness policy,” however later apologised for the error. Plus-sized individuals have long been battling with the fashion world and other media outlets, such as advertising, television and cinema, for a more prominent and accepted position.

Zara is one of the leading affordable apparel market retailers in Europe; statistics indicate that an average high-street store in Spain expects customers to visit three times a year, but this increases to up to 17 times for Zara. If this brand is introducing XXL as a regular size addition, then other brands will surely follow.