The story begins with Khloe Kardashian and Emma Grede. When the two friends-slash-business partners set out to launch their size-inclusive, universally flattering denim brand Good American last October, little did they know they would have a hand in not only disrupting a major department store’s retail strategy, but potentially altering the way women shop everywhere—all because they insisted on having their entire size range, from 00 to 24, be merchandised together at their exclusive U.S. partner, Nordstrom.
Good American’s request marked a couple firsts for the multi-brand retailer: 1) having all the sizes it carries be together, in the same section, and 2) offering denim above a size 10/12 outside its designated plus department. “It was a clear condition that Good American had to be bought in the full size range and shown in one spot,” Grede tells Glamour. “What we’re talking about here are sizes that the vast majority of women in the U.S are, so why should they need to slink off outside the best part of the store to find something that fits? It goes without saying that all women should have an equal opportunity to buy great fitting clothes. No one should be asked to shop in a different department because of the number on their trousers. It’s all about feeling your best, looking your best and having the ultimate choice.”
So, what happened? Nordstrom saw immediate success in the way consumers shopped for Good American jeans in this layout. This served as an internal catalyst for the company, prompting it to jump-start a year-long sequence of events that brings us to the opening of its latest location, at Century City in Los Angeles. This store, which opens to the public on October 3, will be the first to introduce what could be a ground-breaking approach to size inclusivity in retail—see, at the Century City Nordstrom, the denim department will feature all of its brand partners, from straight to extended sizes, merchandised together. No more having to go to a separate section to find your size.
PHOTO: ROBERT ROOKS Photography
“We’ve always known there were customers we couldn’t take care of because their favorite brands didn’t offer extended sizes,” says Tricia Smith, the Executive Vice President of Women’s at Nordstrom. “Good American’s approach really resonated with me because of how inclusive it was and how it celebrated all body types. It was really powerful, and the reception was fantastic. It’s one of our most successful launches, and it revealed to us the best-selling sizes: 0, 14, and 16. And it gave us the confidence to find a size-inclusive solution.”
When it came time to test-drive this concept, Nordstrom team decided to start with denim before crossing into other categories that offer plus and petite sizing, such as lingerie and ready-to-wear. As part of this launch, though, more than 40 brands have agreed to extend sizes by the end of the year or by Spring 2018—many for the first time ever—at Nordstrom. There will be a total of 62 labels among this inclusive offering, which will include Topshop, Rag & Bone, and Madewell, along with some of the retailer’s in-house lines. (Halogen, Caslon, and Emerson Rose began to introduce extended sizes as early as July of this year.) These sizes will be available online on Nordstrom’s website (in addition to the stores and sites of select brands) and at the new Century City location; the latter will display denim and lingerie pieces on mannequins of various sizes, ranging from 0 to 12 (!!!).
PHOTO: Courtesy of Nordstrom.
“There are a lot of brands that only sell between sizes 2 and 12, and we said, ‘That is not OK,’” Smith explains. “In the past, if you were a brand, you had to decide if you were going to be a plus-size brand or not, and that doesn’t have to be the case anymore. I think the industry needed a retailer to bring forward a solution, and the perk of partnering with a retailer like Nordstrom is that brands have the confidence that they’re not just going to extend their sizes and no one’s going to know about it. Once we told brands that this is a priority, that they needed to make progress with us, they were on board; we haven’t had anyone tell us no.”
There was some pushback on the brand side, Smith says: Nordstrom set a minimum size requirement at 18, and extending up to a size 14 was a challenge for a few labels. In those instances, a compromise was made: “We said, ‘Look, let’s do 14s and 16s, and eventually, 18s—right now, we want to add as many sizes as possible.”
To be clear, this new concept is really only about where merchandise is put in stores. Nordstrom isn’t getting rid of its plus or petite departments (both will still be present in the store, as this shift only applies to denim for now.) Rather, Century City will serve as a testing ground, so that the retailer can determine whether this strategy can be implemented at other locations. As of now, the plan is to collect data (gathered from purchases online and in stores), and to roll out the extended sizes to 15 to-be-determined major markets by spring.
PHOTO: Jeffrey Mayer
Khloé Kardashian and Emma Grede of Good American at the brand’s launch event at Nordstrom in October 2016.
“We’re only rolling out a fully expanded size range to the places where there is a demand for it—a need for it,” Smith says. “As of now, we don’t know what those markets are, as we’re waiting on more conclusive data, but what I can tell you is that we see this as an opportunity for us to grow our business and to take of our customers at the same time.”
At a time when we’ve seen more curvy models gracing the runways than ever before and fashion campaigns become increasingly more diverse, Nordstrom’s push to be more inclusive—and demanding it from its brand partners—is a move we can definitely get behind.
“We don’t believe petite and plus should be categorized—they’re just sizes,” Smith says. “I think the fashion industry in general needs to commit itself to inclusivity and I strongly believe it’s about time, to be honest. And hopefully, all brands and retailers will learn to pay closer attention to their customers.”
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