J. Crew’s development of new sizes to serve Asian customers
At first, the new clothing sizes that J. Crew established in May—000 and XXXS—seem to send an outrageous message to women. Pants in this size fit a twenty-three-inch waist; the average American woman measures thirty-seven-and-a-half inches. The shopping blog Racked described the triple zero as “a whole new level of crazy.” The celebrity chef Rachael Ray called it “the silliest, most asinine thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” A Facebook commenter wrote, “Finally, something I can wear. On my arm.”
What’s happening at J. Crew can be difficult for Americans to grasp: as the U.S. has become a less attractive place to open stores, retail isn’t solely about their needs anymore. The triple-zero and extra-extra-extra-small clothing is not designed for the average shopper in Houston, Miami, or even Manhattan. Instead, J. Crew said that the sizes are a response to the requests of petite Asian customers, particularly at its new stores in Hong Kong, who had trouble finding Pixie pants and boyfriend jeans that fit them. Read more
