A legacy Australian fashion label is under fire after a recent overhaul saw a cut to its sizing range, with the brand no longer catering to customers above a size 18.
Witchery revealed its official rebrand and latest collection on Tuesday, heralding its new look as a "fresh design direction".
The retailer was founded in South Australia in 1970 and operates stores across Australia and New Zealand. It is owned by parent company Country Road Group, alongside fellow middle-market brands Country Road, Trenery and Politix.
However, fans of the label were quick to point out online that the "fresh direction" didn't include customers above a size 18, with the brand dropping size 20, or XXXL, from its range. The latest collection is instead available in sizes 4-18.
According to an investigation by Refinery29 last year, while it's typically reported that the average Australian woman is a size 14-16, data indicates that is not actually the case. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2017-18 National Health Survey (NHS) found more than two-thirds (67 percent) of Australians aged 18 and over were classified as 'overweight' or 'obese'. After comparing the average measurements in the survey with the size charts of 20 of Australia's most popular clothing brands, the author determined the average Australian woman typically wears a size 16-18.
A spokesperson for Witchery told news.com.au the decision to axe their largest size was made after "careful consideration".
"Size inclusivity is important for us, and we're proud to be one of the few high-street fashion brands in our category to offer such a wide range of sizes in our main range," they said.
"After careful consideration, we've decided to remove size 20 from our collection. This size accounted for a small percentage of our sales, and when we asked our customers why, the feedback revealed inconsistencies in our sizing between styles.
"In response, we embarked on an extensive project to improve the accuracy and consistency of our sizes and fits across our whole collection. Our updated design direction means that sizes from 10 and up are now a more relaxed fit, with the new size 18 fitting closely to the previous size 20.
"While size 20 is currently unavailable, we're committed to learning from and listening to our customers as we refine our sizing. We welcome our customers to come in-store to experience the new collection and try on the new fits."
Campaign imagery shared to Witchery's social media has since attracted backlash, with many outraged customers taking to the comments to express their displeasure at the move.
One photo featuring a plus-size model saw several commenters accuse the brand of "scrambling" to "post something inclusive" amid the negative feedback.
"THIS is what we wanna see and also size 20," one woman wrote, while a second added: "99 percent of women are not size six, 16yo girls."
"Sad that you aren't size inclusive anymore," said another, with a fourth commenting: "Must have been a scramble in the office yesterday. Now you just need to include more diverse images to the product range on your website and extend your sizing."
On an earlier post introducing the new look 'Bold Awakening' collection, the comments were even more pointed, with one customer writing: "So you've ditched the size 20? It's not a 'bold awakening' if you cannot do the bare minimum for size inclusivity."
"It's genuinely so embarrassing to be proud that you've made your clothing less accessible for people," said another, while a third deadpanned: "What in the Kookai is going on."
Many others took issue with Witchery's approach that size 20 customers should instead opt for an 18 due to the "more relaxed fit", with one hitting back: "I guess it is pretty bold to tell their size 20 customers to go F themselves."
"The choice to eliminate size 20, telling people to be happy about buying a size 18 instead, just reinforces anti-fat bias and the narrative that 'smaller is better'," another opined.
In a video shared to her TikTok, Melbourne-based content creator Nicole Bridget - who specialises in "midsize" fashion and lifestyle content - lambasted the rebrand as "a joke".
"Your curvy, midsize, plus-size friends have been left out once again," Bridget said in the clip, which has since been viewed almost 150,000 times.
"Not only have [Witchery] not listened to their customers, they have dropped size 20," she added.
"We are never represented in brands... it feels like we're going backwards in the fashion industry."
Brittney Saunders, the founder of the inclusive size 6-26 women's label Fayt, said it was "a bit tone-deaf" of the company to name their latest collection 'Bold Awakening' given their decision to drop a size.
"You're a huge brand that's been around for so long and you did go to a size 20, which was great of you... You just think in 2024 there would be enough people in your office to have conversations and go, 'Actually, maybe we shouldn't remove a size'," Saunders mused, as reported by news.com.au.
"They could've extended their sizing further and done a massive campaign with so much diversity, they could have really knocked it out of the park - I would like to see them turn it around."
