Is Ozempic Ruining the Plus-Size Fashion Market?

The rise of weight loss drugs like Ozempic is not only changing the way individuals manage their health and weight, but it is also having a significant impact on the fashion industry.

With the rise in popularity of weight loss pills, the plus size fashion market is experiencing significant changes. In this shift, fashion experts; Designers and consumers are wondering whether the ‘ultra-thin’ ideal, a staple of the ’90s and ’00s, is making a comeback, and whether that’s a problem for the plus-size fashion market. business models; product lines and body positive movements.

Celebrity endorsements

Ozempic is a prescription drug manufactured by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. The drug mimics a hormone that regulates appetite and digestion, reducing hunger and calorie intake. It slows down the digestion process and helps the users of the combination to reduce their body weight.

It was designed to treat and manage type 2 diabetes, but has found popularity due to its weight loss effects. Many celebrities are known to have used the drug.

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A representative for Novo Nordisk said. Newsweek The company is “committed to using our medicines responsibly.”

“Ozempic is not approved for chronic weight management,” the rep said.

Size matters

Of the 8,800 figures shown at 230 shows and presentations this fall-winter fashion season, 0.8 percent were plus-size (US 14+) and 3.7 percent were medium-size (US 6-12). fashion luxury And according to Vogue Business, a website focused on beauty trends, an overwhelming 95.5 percent are straight sizes (US 0-4).

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We spoke to Lucy Maguire, Senior Trends Editor at Vogue Business. Newsweek About Ozempic’s influence on information and the fashion industry. She said: “Typically, it’s the independent brands that always top our size inclusion level in the four major cities. [the Spring-Summer 2024 season]We also saw some really exciting moves from big fashion houses. Brands such as Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen both entered the top 10 for the first time since data began to be collected.”

Maguire continued: “Last season a lot of these brands went back to straight-size models, which reduced the proportion of plus-size models over the course of the season. We’re seeing even brands that are generally supposed to favor mid-size models. Plus-size models outnumber plus-size models.”

This sentiment was echoed by Molly Rooyakkers, who runs a popular Instagram account called Style Analytics, which looks at “data-driven fashion insights.” Rooyakkers explained. Newsweek “While internal studies of retailers have indicated an increase in sales of smaller clothing sizes over the past year, this trend is evident in search data. For example, searches for size 00 jeans at popular youth-focused retailers in the USA are up 8 percent last year.”

Newsweek I also spoke with Marcy and Jen, an LA-based business called The Plus Bus Boutique, which sells sustainable and plus-size fashion, and they said their sales were down.

Some people aren’t happy to admit that they “might need bigger pants,” they say, because “our retail neighborhood neighbors are experiencing similar downturns because of the economy.”

Since opening in 2015, they “always see customers who are on a weight loss journey,” they said.

He explained that he had heard about Ozempic for a long time, but they were “definitely not like other diet drugs or craziness.”

“The crazy thing about selling clothes to people who are losing weight or losing weight is that the weight doesn’t come back more often than it comes back on,” he said.

Fashion trends

“Size participation is going back and forth season after season right now,” Maguire said. “Yes, there is a lot of impact on public perception of Ozempic at the moment. As influencers and celebrities (male and female) shrink before their eyes, some critics say it gives designers license to go back to straight models. It influences consumers to have a more homogenous concept of beauty.”

Molly Rooyakkers of Style Analytics believes weight loss pills like Ozempic are halting the progress made by size-inclusive fashion and the body-positive movement.

“Ozempic has made the ultra-thin body type more accessible to many people, but in doing so it has taken less steps to include all body types in fashion,” she said. Newsweek.

Maguire agreed that ultra-thin is making a resurgence in fashion, and says male designers are a big factor.

“I think it’s unfortunate that male designers have a very similar view of the female body,” she says. “For example, most fashion is not designed with the bra in mind. No one ever wears a bra on the runway.”

The owners of Plus Bus Boutique felt the same way about communicating the idea of ​​ultra-thinness. Newsweek It’s: “Extreme thinness always seems to backfire. America’s obsession with thinness will never go away. While we’re making progress, fatphobia runs rampant in our society.”

What’s next?

Because of this, the plus size fashion industry is now likely to continue to face obstacles. The women behind The Plus Bus Boutique think weight-loss pills “contribute to fat bias, so it feels safer to live in a body that’s visibly fat and unwanted. Thin.”

Rooyakkers noted that fashion aesthetics such as “indie sleaze” and ‘heroin chic’ have become popular on platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest over the past year.

“These trends may not be fully reflected in mainstream fashion yet, but they may be on the horizon,” she told me. “Especially when combined with cultural factors such as Ozempic’s influence and increased cigarette consumption in the USA, these trends may make a comeback in the next few years,” she explained.

Rooyakkers says, “There are a handful of fashion brands that feature plus-size and plus-size models on their runways when they’re in tune with the demands of their fans and the body-positive movement.”

“While many of these brands continue to deliver on these promises with the advent of Ozempic, it will be interesting to see which brands continue to advance as Ozempic usage continues to grow.”

update 7/11/24 4:20 am ET: Spelling of Molly Roakes’ surname has been changed to Rooyakkers.

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