PLT X ASHLEY GRAHAM

Previously, this year in September, Pretty Little Thing dropped their most needed collaboration with body activist plus size model Ashley Graham. The collection comes in sizes 6 to 28 and the collection offers items of clothing cater from all body types from hourglass and petite as well as, the women that are in between. However, some customers have voiced their opinions and completely are against this collection and this is purely because, PLT collaborated with a plus size celebrity so customers feel as if that all the models should be curvy, plus size women.

Figure 1- Ashley Graham Figure 2- PLT model

Pretty Little Thing vision is to create clothing for women of all body types and the brand has been scrutinised in the past for their sizing and this collection Ashley Graham gives them the opportunity to address these rumours. The CEO of Pretty Little Thing Umar Kamani clearly recognised the fact that there is opportunity for selling clothes in a wider variety of sizes including plus size and ignoring the fact that the fashion industry seems to have a stigma with plus size fashion. "The aim of a celebrity collaboration/endorsement is that the cachet and sparkle of the celebrity personality will become directly associated with the brand and that this will reinforce the brand`s image and position in the marketplace" (Posner H, 2011). By doing this collection, PLT is recognising the fact that everyone is different therefore customer`s bodies are going to vary. "Understanding of the customer is central to all aspects of effective marketing. Many businesses become so focused on internal processes or monitoring the activities of their competitors that they fail to recognise the needs of changing requirements for their customers" (Posner, 2011). PLT has to compete with brands like Boohoo and Missguided but, PLT has realised that trends and customers are forever changing. With celebrities like the Kardashians popularising the use of cosmetic surgery with women altering their bodies to become more voluptuous and PLT being able to cater to their needs and having more clothing that is accessible for their curvy customers.

One of the massive problems with this collection is its lack of advertising. The collection was not advertised as much as Pretty Little Thing`s Karl Kani collaboration. The collection was promoted through a launch party with celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, Miguel and Megan Barton Hanson (Love Island contender). The fashion press do play a substantial role in fashion promotion. "Fashion magazines are vital cogs in the machinery of fashion promotion in terms of advertising and editorial." (Posner, 2011). As well as this, the collection did not receive a lot of media coverage with only magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour. The brand may have missed the mark with this collection as it was not as popular as their collection with Karl Kani which ended up being sold out after being restocked. The reason why the Ashley Graham collection was not as popular as other PLT`s previous collaborations is because of the lack of advertising the collection received and because of who PLT`s target market is. PrettyLittleThing target fashion conscious young women and the brand has been slammed about the collection with critics stating that the brand should not be promoting obesity.

This further explains how society are not embracing plus size women even though its a market that PLT can dominant in but, some members of society are still not accepting of all body types. When PLT announced their collection with Ashely Graham some Instagram users were commenting that Ashley was unhealthy just because, of her body type even though she constantly posts videos of her Instagram account of her exercising. For the brand to be successful in their next collection they need to consider all these factors but, the brand cannot please everybody!