New Look accused of 'fat tax' on plus-size clothing

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 15, 2018

New Look has been slammed after it was spotted selling a pair of trousers from its plus-size Curve range for 15% more than an apparently identical item from the main collection.

A shopper has expressed her disbelief at the alleged “fat tax” on the plus-size collection, which she discovered when she browsed the rails at the retailer’s Ashford store. Retail supervisor Maria Wassell said she was "absolutely disgusted" when she realised that a pair of green striped trousers were being sold for £22.99 in the Curve collection, but just £19.99 in the main range.

The mother of two went online to compare more items, finding that a size 18 t-shirt which she had bought for £12.99 the previous week was being sold for just £9.99 in the standard range – a 30% difference.

Wassell told the Sun: “The average size for a British woman is now a size 16. Plus-size purchases are on the increase. If you look at the statistics, there’s more money being spent on plus-size clothing now then there was even three years ago.

“Why should we be penalised for being slightly bigger? A lot of retailers do this. Some retailers have claimed that plus-size clothes need more fabric and that’s why it costs more. That’s basically rubbish. I used to work for a plus-size brand so I do understand a lot about how it works.”

The 43-year old, who has worked in retail for 26 years, noted that trousers in the tall range were sold for the same price as the normal ones, despite requiring more fabric.

A spokesperson for New Look commented:  “To ensure pricing differences like these don’t happen in future, we are in the process of reviewing the pricing structure of our plus-size collection in a way which works best for our customers and our business.

“We are proud of the ranges we offer to our plus-size customers and value all customers, no matter what their body shape or size.”