Linked In Influencer Michael Stone Dissects these Economical Trends and Bold Commentates
Linked In Writer and Chairman of Beanstalk, Micheal Stone, is fascinated with rising trends. He has written a great series comparing the Cannabis industry with E-Sports and Plus Size Fashion.
“They each represent product categories that have been around a long time but that have recently re-invented themselves due to cultural, political, technological or societal trends.”
– Michael Stone
In Part One of the series, Stone focuses on the Plus Size industry. He specifically discusses the small amount of players like Lane Bryant and Catherine’s in the 1990s making way to designers and private-label brands at retailers like Target. He also discusses J. Crew, Nordstrom, Kohl’s, Anthropologie, Madewell, ModCloth and JCPenney adding sizes and complete collections. What he doesn’t touch on is Torrid’s complete reinvention from a very edgy brand to the industry leader with everything from basics to lingerie to their “old school” edgy and trend-setting pieces. This is the spot that Lane wanted to hold, but their unfortunate mishandling of sale and resale has left their brand a bit flat.
Brands like Eloquii are even discussed as well as Melissa McCarthy’s new lines.
So, what does he say is happening?
“Two factors are contributing to the re-igniting of the plus-size category: economics and cultural trends.”
Michael Stone
Stone obviously (but to be honest, brilliantly since nobody else seems to notice) points out the huge amount of “white space” in both plus size women’s categories and big and tall stores.
[Editor’s Note: “White Space” is uncapitalized opportunity]
He more importantly points out beauty ideals changing… for the better, to be more inclusive. Social media and digital marketing have made these trends much more visible.
“Beauty is increasingly being defined today, thankfully, by individualism and confidence, and a celebration of body positivity and the diversity of body types, not by size or weight.”
– Michael Stone
While many would commentate that Stone as a non-plus male has little to say about the plus size world…. (shameless plug about the fact that I, too, am those things), we absolutely do need researched economists and marketing consultants to start writing about these topics. And, we totally appreciate him doing so!
Stone talks a great deal about disruptors and fashion is certainly one place that plus size women have started to make large impacts in.
What are some other areas that the plus size universe needs to start penetrating? We can think of a few:
- Travel
- Hospitality (different than travel)
- Media (there’s a long way to go)
- Dating and Romance
- Health and Wellness (which includes reinventing fitness to be more size inclusive)
- Branding and Social Media
Michael, great series! You can find the rest of the article and his profile here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/power-licensing-10-what-do-plus-size-apparel-cannabis-michael-stone/
But… uh… let’s try to find a better adjective instead of “full figured” eh? It’s 2019- we’ve got some much better descriptors!
