British online fashion and beauty mega retailer, Asos, is a staple for 20-somethings looking for style that reflects their creativity. They pride themselves on empowering young adults by hiring and supporting new designers across the globe while curating pieces from well-known brands – including their very own Asos brand. Asos launched Asos Curve, their plus size women line, at the beginning of 2010 followed by their plus size and tall section for men at the beginning of this year, a bold step towards opening the dialogue surrounding plus size representation within the fashion industry.
Asos has a track record for continuing to expand their inclusivity and taking risks in order to put the customer first. This fact has been proven yet again with Asos using visibly plus models on multiple homepages on the site. Not only are plus models utilized on the main homepage and subsequent women and men pages, they are at the forefront!
If even included in campaigns in the first place, plus models are usually hidden, placed off to the side, and dressed in the least fashion-forward look, ensuring that the retailers can brag about being “diverse” without “diluting their brand”. Asos is paving the way, once again, placing the plus size models front and center, rocking bold prints, showing off thick thighs and celebrating visible belly outlines.
Although a seemingly small and obvious move, placing a visibly plus model on the homepage removes the ridicule associated with plus size shopping. Often times it takes master craft to navigate a site in order to find the plus size section, which is usually hidden under multiple levels of drop down menus. Asos proudly boasts their plus size brands from the jump, showing young plus size creatives that style is attainable at any size.
From the perspective of a long time Asos Curve customer, this is a good look Asos – please keep it up! You do not know how much of a change you are bringing to the industry as a whole!
