New Look slammed over ‘fat tax’ after charging up to 30 per cent more for plus-size clothes
The price disparity was up to £10 on identical items across the brand's regular and curves ranges - implying that larger customers were being penalised for their size
NEW Look has come under fire after allegedly imposing a ‘fat tax’ on its plus-sized customers.
The claims come after a shopper noticed a pair of trousers from the high street fashion brand’s Curve range was being sold for 15 per cent more than an identical pair in the store’s main collection.
Now Maria Wassell, a retail supervisor from Kent, has decided to boycott the chain after spotting the differently priced items at her local Ashford branch.
She said she was “absolutely disgusted” after finding a pair of green stripped trousers were being sold for £22.99 in the Curves range, but just £19.99 in their standard range.
Mum-of-two Maria stormed out of the store in outrage and took to the retailer’s online site to check for any more disparities in pricing.
She claims she found a size 18 striped T-shirt with the slogan 'tres jolie' which she paid £12.99 for the previous weekend was being sold for just £9.99 in the standard range – a 30 per cent difference.
Maria, who has worked in retail for 26 years, said: “It’s like I’m being discriminated against for being plus size when I’m only slightly bigger than average.
“The average size for a British woman is now a size 16.
“Plus size purchases are on the increase. If you look at the statistics, there’s more money being spent on plus size clothing now then there was even three years ago.
“Why should we be penalised for being slightly bigger? A lot of retailers do this.
“Some retailers have claimed that plus size clothes need more fabric and that’s why it costs more. That’s basically rubbish.
“I used to work for a plus size brand so I do understand a lot about how it works.”
The 43-year-old says she feels the retailer is alienating itself from vast swathes of shoppers by having price disparities on apparently identical items of clothing.
She added: “It’s discriminating against those customers who are larger.
“Even the trousers in their tall range, which would also require more fabric, are the same price as the normal ones. I’m annoyed.
“Retail at the moment is a really hard business to be in and they’re not doing themselves any favours. New Look are already closing stores down.”
Maria contacted New Look and claimed she was told ‘some products appear similar but may be slightly different’.
New Look added that they are in the process of reviewing the pricing structure of its plus size collection.
Despite this, fashion lover Maria has vowed to boycott its stores until the pricing disparity issue is resolved.
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Speaking to the Sun, a New Look spokesman said: “To ensure pricing differences like these don’t happen in future, we are in the process of reviewing the pricing structure of our plus size collection in a way which works best for our customers and our business.
“We are proud of the ranges we offer to our plus size customers and value all customers, no matter what their body shape or size.”
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