Plus-size clothing on the rise

A quarter of women are now size 18 or above, according to research that highlights the scale of Britain's obesity crisis, reports the Daily Telegraph. The market for plus-size clothing has grown by almost 50 per cent to £3.8 billion in the past five years, according to the figures, with around 6.2 million women falling into the category.

Larger-size menswear has also grown steadily by 6% to £1.9 billion between 2005 and 2010, according to data analysts Mintel.

Tamara Sender, Senior Fashion Analyst at the company, which surveyed 20,000 Britons, said: “Rising levels of obesity in the UK mean that plus-size consumers are increasing and these shoppers are looking for improved choice in plus-size clothing and more fashionable garments.

"Given the numbers of not just plus-size women, but also men, with a third wearing XL clothes or bigger, these consumers can no longer be considered a minority or niche sector and retailers of all types of clothing need to wake up to the growth potential of this market.

”Today, the most purchased clothing size in the UK is a size 12, with 31% of women buying this size in the UK, followed by size 14.

"However, with 10.1 million women in the UK (equivalent to nearly 40% of the female population) wearing clothes sized 16 and over, there is growing demand for clothing more representative of the overall population."