Major clothing retailers including Swedish brand H&M and Spanish retailer Mango are removing plus-size apparel lines from store shelves as widespread adoption of GLP-1 weight-loss medications like Ozempic drives down consumer demand for larger garments.
Fashion brands across the mass-market sector are withdrawing large models from advertising campaigns and removing clothing sizes XL and above from production lines. Retailers report that maintaining extensive plus-size inventories has become unprofitable amid a global obsession with easy weight loss using diabetes medications. Plus-size models are losing employment and stating that body positivity died once thinness could be purchased for money.
Swedish fashion giant H&M, whose retail stores operate worldwide, spent several years featuring non-standard models in ad campaigns to appeal to everyday shoppers seeking fashionable, comfortable clothes at affordable prices. In 2022, H&M partnered with plus-size model Tess Holliday, a prominent body-positivity icon who advised company designers on size accessibility and garment inclusivity. The collaboration led H&M to expand its size range up to 4XL for women and 3XL for men.
At the time the partnership was announced, Donna Dozier Gordon, head of H&M's inclusion and diversity department in the Americas, said that the company viewed inclusivity as a business imperative.
Four years later, H&M has returned to its traditional size offerings by removing sizes larger than XL almost completely from its catalogues and ending its working relationship with Holliday. Research firm Edited observed that 3XL and 4XL sizes accounted for just 2 percent of H&M's total product range in 2025, before disappearing entirely in 2026. The inventory share of XXL and XL garments fell by 3 and 2 percentage points respectively, while smaller sizes from XS to L grew by 3 percentage points. H&M representatives acknowledged that the brand stopped selling clothes sized 3XL and larger, stating that consumer demand for those sizes no longer existed.
Spanish clothing retailer Mango has similarly cut its plus-size range. In the spring and summer of 2025, dresses sized XL to 3XL represented 6.6 percent of all new styles at Mango, but one year later that proportion dropped to 0.5 percent.
Shift to Second-Hand Markets and Modelling Impact
The reduction in size ranges by market leaders is also affecting specialized clothing stores that originally focused on larger body types. Last year, United States plus-size clothing retailer Torrid closed more than 170 stores, representing nearly one third of its entire retail network.
As conventional retail options diminish, shoppers seeking larger garments are increasingly turning to online second-hand communities to buy and resell used clothing. Calculations by virtual consignment platform ThredUp show that sales of women's plus-size clothing grew by 17.4 percent this year, compared with a 6.8 percent rise for S and M sizes. Supply on the platform has also expanded, with listings of used plus-size items increasing by 32 percent in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, reaching twice the volume recorded in the first half of 2023.
Kristen Brophy, senior vice president of marketing at ThredUp, said demand for plus-size clothing was not declining on resale platforms and remained one of the fastest-growing segments of their market.
The retreat from plus-size apparel is also impacting the modelling industry. British plus-size model Skye Stanley reported that fashion brands have stopped offering work to models with her body type in recent seasons. Stanley secured only a couple of contracts in 2024, despite having worked continuously in previous years for brands including Dolce & Gabbana and Rihanna's Fenty line.
Stanley stated that London Fashion Week featured no castings for plus-size models in 2025. Analysis by Vogue magazine revealed that 97 percent of runway looks across 198 fashion shows in 2025 were assigned to very thin models, while plus-size models accounted for less than 1 percent of looks. Stanley said she believed a large part of the inclusivity movement was ostentatious, adding that ostentatious commitments were easy for companies to abandon.
Models observe that many colleagues are deliberately losing weight to secure modeling jobs. The industry benchmark for plus-size modeling has fallen to the point where models wearing size L or M are classified as plus-size, placing average female body types in that category. British plus-size model Nyome Nicholas-Williams stated that she would never lose weight simply for a brand to hire her because she did not want to change herself for employers.
Role of GLP-1 Drugs and Changing Consumer Demographics
Industry analysts directly connect the shrinking availability of plus-size clothing to the mass adoption of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, particularly Ozempic. GLP-1, or glucagon-like peptide-1, is a hormone produced naturally by the body in the intestine after eating. It sends satiety signals to the brain so that a person feels hungry less often and eats less food, with medications like Ozempic mimicking this biological mechanism.
Plus-size model Felicity Hayward identified 2023 as the turning point for the fashion industry, when widespread discussion of rapidly slimming celebrities in Hollywood drove interest in Ozempic. Reports of the drug's side effects caused demand to spike to the point of creating medication shortages for type 2 diabetes patients across several countries. Hayward said she had naïvely believed society had reached a point where women's bodies were no longer subject to criticism and everyone was accepted as they were.
Use of GLP-1 medications has spread from public figures to the general public. Data from June 2025 showed that 18 percent of American adults were taking GLP-1 weight-loss medications, up from 12 percent one year earlier. This shift has coincided with a measurable drop in nationwide adult obesity rates in the United States, which fell for the first time in years from 39.9 percent to 36.4 percent this year.
The popularity of weight-loss injections has unexpectedly created extra work for wedding dress designers. Designers report that almost every bride now starts taking GLP-1 drugs before her wedding to lose weight, causing gowns that fitted perfectly during store fittings to turn out far too large by the date of the ceremony.
Market Outlook and Potential Short-Sightedness
Market research firm Mintel analyzed consumer behavior and concluded that while the impact of GLP-1 medications on the clothing industry is real, it should not be overstated. Mintel noted that although these medications alter physical measurements, 69 percent of shoppers still want clothing brands to offer more size and length options rather than focusing exclusively on average figures.
Mintel indicated that the central challenge for consumers remains finding clothing that fits properly, even in standard sizes. The firm recommended that rather than reducing size ranges, apparel brands should make clothing more adaptable by incorporating features such as hidden drawstrings to adjust garments to different body shapes.
Researchers also pointed out that many individuals who use GLP-1 medications eventually stop taking them and experience fluctuating weight. Because customer weights are likely to rise and fall over time, analysts warn that the current drop in demand for large sizes may prove temporary, making mass-market decisions to eliminate plus-size lines look shortsighted.
