Most Indian brands follow inclusive sizing; but when it comes to pricing strategy for plus size clothing, they charge extra ‘fat tax’ for the additional piece of cloth they use. So, is inclusive sizing just a way to stay relevant in today’s social media-driven age? This article discusses the term inclusive sizing and the levy of fat tax by Indian fashion brands.

Nowadays, most Indian brands are featuring models of all sizes in their catalogues in a bid to win some extra brownie points from their target audience. In fact, fashion is considered to have become inclusive, i.e., it is now available for everyone irrespective of the body size.

The Indian fashion industry essentially creates clothing for sizes 0-12, which constitutes about half of India’s total consumers. Curvy women and men are restricted to standard body size metrics by the fashion industry, which has labelled consumers based on their body shapes. This results in a lack of options for the curvy Indians in designs and styles.

To combat this, some Indian brands have developed a strategy of inclusive sizing, which has gained a tremendous response. The inclusive sizing options are now being offered for the traditional styles and designs targeted towards men and women beyond size 16. However, the average Indian curvy woman is not looking for designer clothes, but regular wear options that are in sync with the global trends. Not only do they seek the same options that a size 8 is wearing, but they also want something that gives them a chance to flaunt their curves.

The problem arises because most designers look towards the EU, UK, or US for measurements cues and size inspiration, while only a handful of Indian designers are trying to understand what does and does not work for the Indian body proportions and types. However, the size inclusivity by these designers has strings attached. Plus-sized customers are asked to pay a premium for their size or what is commonly known as ‘fat tax’.

Fat Tax: Fat tax is the extra amount that designers charge for making big-sized garments for their plus-size clients. The additional charges are justified by giving the usage of excess fabric and extra embroideries in oversized apparel as the excuse. Plus-sized customers are charged more for garments available at a fixed price in regular sizes in their showroom. This is in contradiction with the brands’ portrayal of themselves as size inclusive in their campaigns, where they get plus-sized models and spread body positivity.

For example, on a designer’s official website, a black embroidered jacket in size ‘XS’ costs ₹5,94,990, but size ‘4XL’ costs ₹8,92,485. That’s a difference of ₹2,97,495. The huge price difference is visible in nearly all fashion categories from lingerie to lehengas.

Fat tax aside, the size inclusive approach of fashion brands has been instrumental in breaking the size barriers in the authentic fashion industry that has been promoting a stereotypical image of women that are small sized for many decades now. The new approach adopted by the designers has provided even the plus-sized men and women the opportunity to be themselves and wear what reflects their individual style.

Besides the essential cultural and social changes this evolution brings, the inclusive size market is a new horizon for high fashion. New plus sizing labels are emerging, and many established brands are adapting to this new trend. Inclusive sizing offers new market opportunities to brands across geographies and countries, target audiences (men, women, and children), and product segments.

The ‘plus size’ category of customers is an essential part of the fashion industry as about half of the total consumers in India do not fit in the standard size 0-12 bracket. This trend stands true in the US too.

Despite the enormous market size of the plus size fashion segment, many designers do not want to address it. Even today’s designers operate with the outdated sizing models established decades ago. Since everyone has a unique body type, shape, and size, brands need to survey, research, and analyse the body measurements for the different sizes of people in India and ditch the anachronistic size charts, while maintaining the same price range for all sizes. This way the buyers will have more options and better fit without paying more.