The conversation, and the rack
Size-inclusive fashion is talked about a great deal more than it is stocked. In many New Zealand and Australian boutiques, the range still narrows sharply above the middle sizes, even where the language on the website suggests otherwise. The gap between what is said about inclusivity and what hangs on the rail is not new, and it has been noticed for years.
What is shifting, slowly, is expectation. More women now simply expect the range to be there, in their size, every season, and that expectation tends to pull practice along behind it.
Why adding sizes is not the same as designing for bodies
The first wave of size-inclusive ranges often took a single approach: grade up. Take the pattern for a smaller size, scale it larger, and offer the bigger numbers. The trouble is that bodies do not simply enlarge in proportion. Bust height, shoulder slope, where the waist sits, and the relationship between waist and hip all change across the range.
Brands that genuinely serve a wider range design for it from the start. They fit on bodies across the range during development rather than as an afterthought, choose fabrics with enough structure and stretch to perform across different proportions, and photograph and merchandise every size with the same care. Adding sizes to an existing range is a supply decision. Designing for a range of bodies from the outset is a different intention altogether.
Where New Zealand is doing well
There are real bright spots. A number of New Zealand brands have offered extended ranges for years, as ordinary practice rather than a campaign. These tend to be brands that make locally or stay close to their production, because designing across a wider range asks for more patterns, more fittings, and more inventory depth, all of which are easier to manage near home.
At Paula Ryan, we offer XS (NZ/AUS 8) to 3XL (20) since the brand's early years. The decision came from a straightforward design view rather than a trend: if the fabric and the construction are right, there is no reason to limit who can wear a piece. Microjersey, with its inherent stretch recovery, makes this technically easier than it would be in a rigid woven, and the commitment has been part of how the label works for a long time.
Other local brands working in stretch knits and jersey are making genuine strides for the same reason: the fabric's own properties accommodate a wider range of bodies without entirely separate pattern blocks for each grouping.
The economics, honestly
One honest reason ranges are sometimes narrow is cost. More sizes mean more patterns, more inventory, and more complexity in manufacturing, and for a small brand on thin margins, extending a range can raise pattern-making costs and minimum order quantities considerably. That is a real constraint. It also helps explain why the brands most able to offer wide ranges tend to be those that make locally and control their own production, rather than those ordering from overseas factories with rigid minimums per size.
What good looks like
The markers of genuine size inclusivity are not hard to spot:
- The full range is available at launch, not added weeks later.
- The full range is photographed, ideally on bodies of different sizes, or with clear size references in the product detail.
- The full range is the same price. Charging more for larger sizes sends a message no brand should want to send.
- The full range is designed, not only graded, with proportions and seam placement considered across body shapes.
- The full range is available to try, in store as well as online, so every customer has the same experience before she buys.
Where we are going
The direction is encouraging, if unhurried. Consumer expectation tends to run ahead of industry practice, which usually means practice catches up. Newer brands are more likely to launch with the full range from day one, and established ones are expanding.
The real test is whether inclusive sizing is a permanent commitment or a moment. The brands that earn lasting trust are the ones that offer every size, every season, without fanfare or qualification. The goal was never to be congratulated for including people. It is for inclusion to be entirely unremarkable.
If you would like to see where ours begins, the tops collection for example runs XS to 3XL, including the three black tops we have made in Christchurch since 1998.
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