Can Technology Fix Fashion’s Sizing Crisis?
By Shiona McCallum, Senior Technology Reporter – BBC
For many shoppers, especially women, navigating the inconsistent sizing in high-street fashion stores has become a frustrating and confusing experience. A pair of jeans labeled as size 10 by one brand could easily be a size 14 in another, leaving consumers unsure which size to purchase and sparking a global wave of product returns. This sizing inconsistency is estimated to cost fashion retailers around £190 billion annually, as customers hedge their bets by ordering multiple sizes for the same item and sending the extras back.
The Widespread Problem of Sizing Inconsistency
This issue is a familiar one for many. A shopper browsing popular London shopping streets summed it up frankly: “I don’t trust high-street sizing. To be honest, I buy by how it looks rather than the actual size.” Such uncertainty drives a culture of mass returns, which not only burdens retailers financially but also contributes to environmental waste.
The Rise of Sizing Technology Solutions
In response, a new generation of technology companies has emerged to tackle the sizing crisis. Innovations range from 3D body scanning apps such as 3DLook, True Fit, and EasySize, which use smartphone photos to predict the best fit before purchase, to virtual fitting rooms. Platforms including Google’s virtual try-on, Doji, Alta, Novus, DRESSX Agent, and WEARFITS enable shoppers to create digital avatars, allowing them to preview how clothes might look without trying them on physically.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also playing a role at the e-commerce stage. AI-powered personal shopping assistants like Daydream can recommend items based on verbal descriptions, while services such as OneOff aggregate celebrity styles to find similar clothing options. Others, like Phia, scan thousands of online retailers to compare prices and provide early “size insights,” helping consumers make more informed choices.
Addressing Sizing Earlier: A Data-Driven Approach
While many solutions focus on aiding consumers at the point of sale, a UK startup named Fit Collective is taking a different route: addressing the problem before clothes even hit store shelves. Founded by Phoebe Gormley—formerly a tailor who launched Savile Row’s first female-tailoring venture—Fit Collective leverages machine learning to analyze manufacturing data, commercial sales, and customer feedback.
“High-street sizing is so bad,” Gormley explains, recalling the frustrations of her made-to-measure clients. She believes the current fashion model is trapped in a “downward spiral,” where brands produce cheaper garments to counterbalance high return rates, which in turn leads to dissatisfied customers and increased waste.
Since launching last year, Fit Collective has raised £3 million in pre-seed funding, the largest amount for a solo female founder in the UK to date. Their technology provides brands with actionable insights by pinpointing why garments don’t fit well. For example, the system might advise shortening the length of a particular item by a few centimeters to reduce overall returns, saving companies money and improving customer satisfaction.
The Limits of Technology in a Complex Industry
Despite technological advances, some experts caution that no single solution can fully resolve the sizing crisis. Paul Alger, Director of International Business at the UK Fashion and Textile Association, notes that body measurements and fit preferences are highly individual and subjective.
“People aren’t mannequins; they’re unique, and so are their fit preferences,” Alger says. Further complicating matters is the practice of vanity sizing—also called “emotional sizing”—where brands design clothes to fit generously, knowing customers often prefer smaller numerical sizes. Once a brand sets its sizing norms, it tends to stick to them season after season, creating its own sizing standards independent of conventional measurements.
Sustainability and Business Pressures Push for Change
Sophie De Salis, sustainability policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium, acknowledges that fashion retailers are becoming more aware of the problem’s costs and sustainability impact. “Smarter sizing tech and AI-driven solutions are key to reducing returns and supporting the industry’s sustainability goals,” she says. She notes that BRC members are collaborating with innovative technology providers to help customers choose the right sizes and thereby reduce wasteful returns.
With sustainability now a boardroom priority and return rates threatening profitability, there is growing industry momentum to adopt data-driven design processes and technology-enabled fitting solutions.
An Industry in Transition
While the global fashion sizing crisis is complex and multifaceted, the emergence of tools like Fit Collective’s data analytics platform, alongside a growing array of virtual try-ons and size-prediction apps, indicates that the industry is beginning to evolve. Though no single fix will eliminate sizing inconsistencies, technology is playing an increasingly important role in improving fit accuracy, reducing waste, and enhancing the shopping experience for consumers worldwide.
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Tags: Retailing, Artificial Intelligence, Fashion, Technology, Sustainability
