The Fashion Week Size Report Is In (And It’s Not Great)

The Spring 2023 season of Fashion Month — the window encompassing New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks — brought us an indie sleaze revival and exciting work from young, boundary-breaking designers. Still, the industry has endless room for improvement, especially when it comes to size diversity. That’s why we need to look beyond the inclusion efforts on the runway to see what sizes designers actually sell. 

InStyle surveyed the size ranges of every brand on this season’s global Fashion Week schedule, and the results are disappointing. Of the 327 industry-approved designers on the calendar, 9% offer clothing in a size 20 or above. That’s just 30 brands in all, 22 of which are based in New York. Those numbers don’t bode well for American women, whose average size is between 16 and 18, according to the most recent data available. Meanwhile, 70% of designers offer clothing in up to a size 12, which is consistent with our findings last season taken only from NYFW. 

Of all four Fashion Weeks, London represents the smallest size range overall, with just 1% of designers offering a size 20 or above and 27% reaching a 14. It’s closely followed by Paris, then Milan, and finally, New York in the top spot, with 19% of designers producing a size 20 or above. Those numbers might come as a shock, considering the outward-facing size diversity brands implemented this season. As the photos in this story show, taken from behind the scenes at Fashion Week, there was plenty of gorgeous, glorious diversity to celebrate on the runways and backstage. Some brands, like New York-based label Selkie, back up that outward support with real substance. It not only highlighted bodies of many shapes and sizes, but featured curvy models beyond the handful of big names embraced in the mainstream. That message is carried through to the brand’s retail offerings, which go up to a size 36 or 6X. 

However, when brands don’t take their inclusivity off the runway, it feels performative at best and at worst hurtful to the shoppers who feel left out when it's time to click 'buy'. At Paris Fashion Week, Ester Manas was widely celebrated for its “Sunset Body” collection, which showcased a diverse variety of models. Unfortunately, the brand only sells sizes up to a 16 (many styles are offered in a one-size-fits-all option made to stretch).

Many brands that offer a size 20 or higher only do so in select garments. Take Givenchy, which goes up to a 24 in a handful of loungewear styles but is sold out of all except one hoodie. Even Tommy Hilfiger, which included several curvy models in its latest show, sells around 10 styles in its largest size, a 24. Most of the brand’s plus-size offerings are casual athleisure or sleepwear.

The stats make it clear: Fashion brands across the globe aren’t thinking of the majority of people — and in turn, they’re missing out on serious spending power. Below, see how every brand on the Fashion Week calendar compares when it comes to sizes they produce beyond the catwalk. But first, some notes on how we do our bi-annual Fashion Week size report survey.

Our Size Report Methodology

• We only surveyed designers that could be found in the Fashion Week Online calendar here.
• We only included brands producing women’s and unisex ready-to-wear (denim and men’s collections, for example, were excluded).
• We did not include designers that only create custom clothing or do not sell in retail (like The Blonds).
• Brands that answered in European sizes were converted to US sizing using this chart.
• For brands that size XS-XXL, we used the following conversion: XS= 0, S=2/4, M=6/8, L=10/12, XL=14/16, XXL=18/20. This was based on the average of the designers’ conversion estimations.
• In the instance that a designer offers extended sizing per request, we went with the ready-to-order sizes offered on their website.

Designer Brands That Sell Up to Size 36

New York 

Dennis Basso
Selkie

Up to Size 30

New York 

Christian Siriano

Up to Size 28

New York 

BruceGlen

Up to Size 24

New York 

Boohoo by Kourtney Kardashian Barker
Studio 189
Tommy Hilfiger 
Veronica Beard

Milan

Ferrari

Paris

Givenchy
Valentino

Up to Size 22

New York 

Puma

Up to Size 20

New York 

Adam Lippes
Altuzarra
anOnlyChild
Batsheva
Bobblehaus
Conner McKnight
Eckhaus Latta
Foo and Foo
KGL
Melke
Michael Kors
Telfar
Victor de Souza

London

RIXO

Milan

Dolce & Gabbana
Roberto Cavalli

Paris

Chanel
Ungaro

Up to Size 18

New York 

Aliétte
Brandon Maxwell
Dion Lee
Fe Noel
LaQuan Smith
LoveShackFancy
Marrisa Wilson
Mirror Palais
Naeem Khan
Rebecca Minkoff

London

Christopher Kane
Erdem
Noon by Noor

Milan

Dsquared2
Moncler

Paris

Agnès B.
Akris
AZ Factory
MaxMara

Up to Size 16

New York 

Aje
Bad Binch TONGTONG by Terrance Zhou
Badgley Mischka
Bed on Water
Bibhu Mohapatra
Black Boy Knits
Carolina Herrera
Coach
Collina Strada
Fendi
Judy Turner
Luar
Maisie Wilen
Markarian
Marni
No Sesso
Overcoat
Pamella Roland
Prabal Gurung
Sammy B
Sergio Hudson
Simon Miller
Sukeina
Tia Adeola
Tory Burch
Ulla Johnson
Wiederhoeft

London

Daniel W. Fletcher
Klamby
Simone Rocha
Sohuman
Stella McCartney
Temperley London
Vivienne Westwood

Milan 

Giorgio Armani
Luisa Spagnoli
Onitsuka Tiger

Paris

Andreadamo
Balenciaga
Balmain
Elie Saab
Ester Manas
GmbH
Lanvin
Leonard Paris
Meryll Rogge
Ulla Johnson

Up to Size 14

New York 

Alejandra Alonso Rojas
Area
Alice + Olivia
COS
Cynthia Rowley
Deity New York
Dur Doux
Hellessy
Jason Wu Collection
Jonathan Simkhai
Lapointe
Private Policy
Tanner Fletcher
Tibi
Tiffany Brown Designs
Tom Ford

London

Di Petsa
Halpern
Huishan Zhang
Molly Goddard
Palmer//Harding
Poster Girl

Milan

Boss
Cormio
Emporio Armani
Etro
Genny
Gucci
Moschino
Philipp Plein
Sportmax
Sunnei
Trussardi
Versace
Paris
Anrealage
Calvin Luo
Dice Kayek
Dior
Koché
Litkovskaya
Loewe
Louis Vuitton
Miu Miu
Nanushka
Off-White
Petar Petrov
Schiaparelli
The Row
Vaquera

Up to Size 12

New York 

A-Company
Advisry
Aknvas
Ashleigh Renee
Bevza
Chiara Boni
Deveaux
Frederick Anderson
Kevan Hall
Khaite
Kim Shui
Loring New York
Mia Vesper
Negris LeBrum
PatBO
PH5
Priscavera
Proenza Schouler
Puppets and Puppets
Sandy Liang
Tara Babylon
Victor Glemaud
Zankov
London
16Arlington
Agnė Kuzmickaitė
Dilara Findikoglu
Emilia Wickstead
Eudon Choi
Isabel Manns
J E Cai
Margaret Howell
Mark Fast
Mithridate
Paul & Joe
Rejina Pyo
Richard Quinn
Rue Agthonis
Sarah Regensburger
Victoria Beckham
Yuhan Wang

Milan

Act N°1
Antonio Marras
Bally
Blumarine
Del Core
Diesel
Elisabetta Franchi
GCDS
Laura Biagiotti
Luisa Beccaria
Missoni
MSGM
Philosophy Di Lorenzo Serafini
Ports 1961
Tod’s

Paris

A.W.A.K.E. Mode
Alexandre Vauthier
Ann Demeulemeester
Anna October
Boyarovskaya
Chloé
Christian Cowan
Christian Wijnants
Coperni
Courrèges
Didu
Dries Van Noten
Gauchere
Giambattista Valli
Hermès
Isabel Marant
Jitrois
Luisa Beccaria
Mm6 Maison Margiela
Nu
Paul Smith
Rick Owens
Rochas
Rui
Sacai
Situationist
Thom Browne
Weinsanto
Yohji Yamamoto
Zimmermann

Up to Size 10

New York 

Adeam
Ashlyn
Bach Mai
Barragán
Bronx and Banco
Dauphinette
Elena Velez
Gabriela Hearst
Gauntlett Cheng
Lúchen
Maryam Nassir Zadeh
Rentrayage
Snow Xue Gao
Theophilio
Vivienne Tam

London

Aadnevik
Abigail Ajobi
Bora Aksu
Chopova Lowena
David Koma
Hai
Han Kjøbenhavn 
Heliot Emil
JW Anderson
KNWLS
L Saha
Sinéad O’Dwyer

Milan

Alberta Ferretti
Ermanno Scervino
Han Kjøbenhavn 
Jil Sander
Marco Rambaldi
N°21
Prada
Sindiso Khumalo
Stella Jean
Vitelli
Vivetta

Paris

Acne Studios
Aniya Records
Atlein
Barbara Bui
Cecilie Bahnsen
CFCL
Commes des Garçons
Dawei Studio
Germanier
Issey Miyake
Junya Watanabe
Kimhekim
Ludovic de Saint Sernin
Lutz Huelle
Mame Kurogouchi
Nehera
Ninamounah
Noir Kei Ninomiya
Ottolinger
Paula Canovas del Vas
Saint Laurent
Uma Wang
Undercover
Véronique Leroy
Xuly Bët

Up to Size 8

New York 

Interior 
Peter Do

London

BMuet(te)
Chet Lo
Feben
Helen Anthony
Lula Laora
Marrknull
Masha Popova
Molini London
Nensi Dojaka
Pam Hogg
Phoebe English
Ray Chu
RuiRui Deng
Susan Fang
Vinti Andrews

Milan 

Daniela Gregis
SaraWong

Paris

Anne Isabella
Benjamin Benmoyal
Florentina Leitner
Maitrepierre
Minuit
Mossi
Paria/FARZANEH
Pressiat
Rokh
Shiatzy Chen
Ujoh

Up to Size 6

New York 

Son Jung Wan

London

Toga
Milan
AC9

Up to Size 4

London 

Apujan
Lupe Gajardo