Marc Jacobs plan for size 14-plus clothes ‘is pacesetter for rivals’
Marc Jacobs could cash in on the "huge, untapped" market for designer clothes to fit larger women with his planned "plus-size" range, experts said today.
Jacobs is at the "very beginning stages of talking to a partner" about producing size 14-plus clothes, the company's president said on Twitter.
Robert Duffy hinted the new collection could be available in a year. He wrote: "We like trying all kinds of things. That's what fashion is about. No boxes... risks."
Fashion analysts said the move could reap huge rewards if carefully managed and could encourage other US labels to follow. Karl McKeever, founder of retail consultancy Visual Thinking, said: "The market can't be ignored — it's growing bigger every year and it would be crazy not to think about trying to tap into it.
"Labels which take the plunge first will get some very positive publicity from making larger sizes acceptable and fashionable.
"Brands such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein are in a position to follow and could produce very successful plus-size clothes but heavily styled European labels, such as Gucci and Dolce & Gabanna, which are so reliant on a particular shape, could find it harder to translate their key look."
