《经济学人》双语阅读1.服装零售

Clothes Retailing: The Forgotten Majority

The fashion industry blatently pays attention to plus-size women.

A good fit is everything, stylists often counsel, but in assessing its market America's fashion business appears to have mislaid the measuring tape. A frequently-cited study done a few years ago by Plunkett Research, a

market-research firm, found that 67% of American women were “plus-size”, meaning size 14 or larger.

That figure will not have changed much, but in 2016, only 18% of clothing sold was plus-size, according to NPD Group, another research firm.

Designers and retailers have long thought of the plus-size segment as high-risk. Predicting what these customers will buy can be difficult, as they tend to be more cautious about styles.

Making larger clothes is more expensive; higher costs for fabric cannot always be passed on to consumers.

In turn, plus-size women shopped less because the industry was not serving them well.

“We have money but nowhere to spend it,” says Kristine Thompson, who runs a blog called Trendy Curvy and has nearly 150,000 followers on Instagram, a social-media site.

At last, that is changing.

Fast-fashion brands, including Forever 21 and a fashion line sold in partnership with Target, a giant retailer, have expanded their plus-size collections.

Lane Bryant, a plus-size retailer, and Prabal Garung, a designer, have done the same.

In March Nike extended its “X-sized” sportswear range.

Revenue in the plus-size category increased by 14% between 2013 and 2016, compared with growth of 7% for all apparel. Takings were $21.3bn last year.

Social media has played an important role in changing attitudes in the fashion business, says Madeline Jones, editor and co-founder of PLUS Model Magazine. Nonetheless, designer brands still hold back (Walmart sells the most plus-size apparel).

Some brands, such as Michael Kors, do sell plus-size ranges but do not advertise them or display them on websites.

For those that are willing to take a chance, several internet startups that deliver personally styled outfits to individuals, including plus-size women, offer data to “straight-size” designers.

Gwynnie Bee, Stitch Fix and Dia & Co, for example, share information with designers on preferred styles and fits.

Tracy Reese, a designer known for creating Michelle Obama's dress for the Democratic National Convention in 2012, is one brand that recently enlisted Gwynnie Bee's help to create a new plus-size collection.

Gwynnie Bee prompted the label to create bigger patterns and more appealing designs.

Not all plus-size shoppers are convinced.

Laura Fuentes, a hairstylist from Abilene, Texas, says that many upmarket department stores still keep their plus-size clothing sections poorly organised, badly stocked and dimly lit, if they stock larger clothes at all.

Yet such complaints should betaken with a pinch of salt, says Ms Thompson. “We're nowhere near where we should be but we've made progress,” she says. 商业

服装零售：被遗忘的大多数 时尚业将目光投向大码女人。 设计师常说，好身材就等同于一切，但美国时装业评估其市场时，发现他们似乎放错了尺码。 一家市场调研公司普朗基特研究公司几年前做的一项研究经常被人引用，其研究发现，67%的美国女人都属于“大码”，即所着服装尺码是14码或者大于14码。 这个数据还未发生大变动。但是在2016年，另一家市场调研公司NPD Group调查显示，在已售衣服中，只有18%属于大码。

长期以来，设计师和零售商都将大码服装视作高风险类。

预测这些顾客会买什么困难重重，因为她们往往对于款式选择更加小心谨慎。

况且，衣服做的越大成本就越贵；而布料上的愈高的成本也不能总是加在顾客身上。 反过来，由于时尚业不能为大码女性提供优质服务，她们就很少购物。 克里斯丁·汤姆森经营着一个名为“ 时尚曲线 ” 的博客，在社交网站Instagram 上有15万粉丝，她说道，“我们有钱，却无处可花”。 而这种现象终于要改变了。

Forever 21和与零售巨头Target 合作的时尚线上销售等快时尚品牌，扩展了其系列大码女装业务。

大码女装零售商莱恩·布莱恩特，和设计师品牌普拉巴·高隆，亦效仿行之。 三月份，耐克也拓展了其运动装的x码的范围。 在2013-2016年间，与服装业整体收益的增长率仅有7%相比，其中大号女装收益的增长率为14%。

去年的营业收入已达2130亿美元。

大码女装杂志PLUS Model Magazine的主编和联合创始人玛德琳·琼斯说，社交媒体对于改变时装业的看法起着重要作用。

尽管如此，设计师品牌依旧犹豫不决（沃尔玛销售最大码服装的量最多）。 一些服装品牌如迈克·科尔也在销售大码服装，但却不会为其进行广告宣传，更不会在其网站上进行展示。

对于那些乐于尝试的人，如一些电商新贵会配送包括大码女装在内的个人定制服装，并向那些“骨感”设计师提供他们的数据。

比如，Gwynnie Bee，Stitch Fix，Dia & Co这些公司会和设计师分享用户偏好的风格以及合身尺寸。 翠西·瑞斯是一位设计师，因为米歇尔·奥巴马设计出席2012年的民主党全国代表大会的服装而成名，这个姓名同时也是一个品牌，近期该品牌寻求Gwynnie Bee相助来设计新款大号系列服装。

Gwynnie Bee促使翠西·瑞斯扩大规模，同时创新更夺人眼球的设计。 对此，不是所有的大码顾客都心悦诚服。

来自德克萨斯州阿比林的发型设计师劳拉·福恩特斯说，就众多高档百货公司而言，若这些公司真有大码服装的话，其大码服装部门仍是缺乏管理，积货严重且门庭冷落。 汤普森女士认为，这些抱怨，不可尽信也不可不信。 她说，“我们虽仍未达标，但已取得一定进展。”