Bharat Apparel - Apparel Portal

SPAIN: Government to standardize apparel measurements

MADRID: The Government is trying to standardize measurements for clothes so that everyone gets the same size in all the shops. The new winter fashions have arrived in Madrid's trendy shops, and women are unsure whether they are size 38 or 42, M or XXL. They head for the changing rooms clutching armfuls of the same model in different sizes to see which fits them.

Following years of complaints from frustrated consumers, the Spanish government has acted to bring order to the chaotic disparity of clothes sizes. The socialist health ministry, which has responsibility for consumer affairs, has struck an unprecedented deal with big Spanish retailers, manufacturers and trade associations to standardize clothes sizes and end consumer confusion.

Companies who have signed up include the Inditex Empire, Mango, El Corte Inglés, and clothing chain Cortefiel. Since these names not only dominate the Spanish high street but also sell strongly abroad, the initiative is bound to have an international impact.

Last month technicians from Spain's health ministry visited the first of 59 towns across the country to measure 10,415 Spanish women, aged between 12 and 70, to find out what size and shape the nation's females really are. The government has also extracted a promise from retailers to banish skeletal plastic mannequins from shop windows – said to encourage unrealistic ideals of beauty – and replace them over time with those sized at least 38.

Some stores have taken immediate action, and many of today's window models seem less cadaverous than before. Retailers have also agreed to incorporate the Spanish size 46 clothes into their normal ranges, and no longer consider them "a special size" often hidden away.

The scheme is the first hands-on example of government action against idealising the skinny and aims to strengthen the hand of women against marketing vagaries. It follows Spain's pioneering stand last year when five sickly thin fashion models were banned from the catwalk.

Source: Agencies • News Courtesy: BharatTextile.com