Sizing up Britain seeks shopping centres for ‘Future of Fit’ campaign

Fashion commentator Caryn Franklin is spearheading a new national campaign, ‘Sizing up Britain – The Future of Fit’ to empower shoppers and retailers with the use of body-mapping technology. The national campaign and roadshow promises to “drive footfall and sales” into the participating

shopping centres by introducing technology that addresses the issue of inconsistent store sizing and to help women find fashion that fits and flatters their shape.

Sizing up Britain has partnered with Bodymetrics, a 3D body-mapping scanner that records over 200 measurements of a woman’s body shape before providing them with “size matched garments” straight to their smart phones via an exclusive app.

According to the initiatives website, the brand's new sizing technology would allow retailers to match consumer body shapes to their AW14 collections, while “benefiting from a greater purchase percentage, lower return rate and an increase in customer satisfaction”.

In an open letter to retailers and shopping centres, Franklin said: "I know that shoppers, especially women, are crying out for a more effective and enjoyable shopping experience when they visit your retail outlet.

“Yes wonderful clothes, exciting designs colours and textures await her, all thoughtfully merchandised and styled, in a harmonious and carefully considered environment by you, but sizing and body variables complicate the process of choosing a garment for nearly all women.”

Sizing up Britain to showcase body-mapping technology

Franklin added: “I want women everywhere to experience confidence as they set out to spend their hard-earned money on their image. Men too will love to engage with the fun of this technology and become pro-active consumers, shopping on their terms for their unique bodyshape.

“Just as importantly I’m excited to create a call to action that will produce a landmark sizing survey to give retailers new and updated information to work from.”

The campaign has taken 18-months to develop and centres around the findings of its survey in partnership with Woman magazine that found that 46.3 percent of women said “finding a better fit” was most important to them and that 32.8 percent found it difficult to find clothes in their size.

The survey also revealed that 76.9 percent of the readers spend less time shopping on their high street compared to two years ago, and that 25.4 percent said yes and 53.7 percent said maybe when asked if more interactive events would draw them back in store.

The campaign is looking for shopping centres to take part to launch the initiative in September.

Image: Caryn Franklin