For decades, the media, the ads, the film industry and the fashion world have been focusing on the beauty of being thin. The truth is that obesity is on the rise in America, United Kingdom, Germany — more than a quarter of German women take a US-size 20 — and the Gulf region to name but a few. Since 1996, when the Body Mass Index (BMI) was first published, it is possible to calculate whether a person is obese or not. Despite growing awareness, obesity is increasing to such an extent, especially among children and adolescents, that it has been called an epidemic.

One of the main causes of child and adolescent obesity is fast food. This was well documented in “Super Size Me,” a film released in 2004 — written, produced and directed by Martin Spurlock, He attempted to film his daily life during a period of thirty days during which he decided to eat only food from McDonald’s. The documentary shows how lean and healthy, he was in the beginning and how he ended up overweight. This powerful film enticed McDonald’s to make some healthy changes in their menus.

The prevalence of large people, unable to find trendy clothes which fit them, is creating a niche market for the plus-sizes. Incidentally, plus-size clothing is a term given to clothing sized specifically for larger sized or overweight people. Plus-size refers generally to clothing labeled (US) 14 and (UK) 18 and upwards for women, and for sizes over XL for men.

Up to now, obesity still carries an overwhelming social stigma. Not only do retailers tend to devote very little space to plus-sizes but fashion does not like obesity. The French designer, Paul Poiret, was one of the first to make clothes for slim women exclusively at the beginning of the twentieth century and the Italian designer Muccia Prada admitted that she didn’t want to make her clothes larger than size 10 because it made her clothing look “hideous.” Moreover, Chanel designer, Karl Lagerfeld complained when his BiB line was manufactured in larger sizes and the line was discontinued. In the world of fashion, fat is not fashionable and no one wants to be associated with it. However, the fact is that plus-size clothing for men, women, teens and children is the biggest untapped market in the fashion industry. Successful plus-size retailers are working to appeal to the young, hip and trendy who want to wear hip and trendy clothes. The fastest growing sector of the plus-size industry is the junior and youth division. A great majority of overweight boys and girls in the nine to twelve age group are buying clothes not made for their age and that can be extremely challenging.

Unlike adults who want to be individual, teens want to wear clothes which fit in with their friends and teens should not be excluded from wearing fashionable clothes because of their size. Interestingly enough, plus-sizing is very popular in men’s clothing. The trend for wearing big has been going on for a few years and in fact, it is easier to find designer plus-sizes in men’s clothing than in women’s clothes.

Plus-size shoppers also prefer to buy on-line and the number of e-customers is continuing to grow as overweight women often complain that retail stores either do not cater for their needs or relegate them to a ghetto in the store.

Yet, fashion houses and retailers alike have discovered that large women are an interesting clientele because big sizes also mean big business. Along with the big and tall line of clothes for men and boys, this plus-size market is poised to go beyond the 100 billion dollar mark.