Spanx Enters the Petite Shapewear Category
Spanx LLC is launching its first shapewear designed for petite women.
The company has created styles that were crafted with specific dimensions for and fitted on petite bodies. The first style to launch will be from the OnCore collection priced at $78 and available for purchase starting Tuesday at Spanx.com. It will be rolled out to wholesale partners such as nordstrom.com and Bloomingdale’s over the next few weeks.
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Asked why petite shapewear hasn’t been done previously, Kiana Miree, chief merchandising officer of Spanx, said, “It’s hard. It’s not easy to do. When you think about applying existing technology of building it specifically for a certain body type it can actually be more challenging. For us, we just saw the value in bringing a unique solution to market because we’ve heard from our consumer that there’s an opportunity.”
She said in the past, petite women have been buying shapewear anyway “but are generally frustrated.” What happens is it will roll down, it’s not as smooth as they might like, the legs can be too long. “Overall she’s still purchasing a solution, but she’s a frustrated consumer because it’s not exactly fit to her specifications.”
Miree said for the launch, Spanx will focus on its bestselling OnCore High Waisted Mid-Thigh short in petite sizing, which is its most transformative collection. It’s called Sculpt, and is 360 degrees of shaping, and a seamless construction with built-in release for the butt. “We took our bestselling collection and we added the petite solution,” she said.
Petite sizes range from XS to 3X. It will launch Tuesday in two shades, with other shades to follow.
Asked about particular requirements for the petite consumer, Miree said the High Waisted Mid-thigh short starts under her bra line and ends at her thigh. “The petites consumer in general has a shorter torso and her in-seam is shorter. When she’s trying a regular product, the torso length is too long, it’s going to run, it’s going to bunch, it’s going to cause wrinkles under clothes which is exactly what she’s trying to avoid,” she said. She said ultimately they start with comfort, which is their first consideration.
Miree claimed Spanx is the first to market to build this product for the petite customer. She said they’re starting with their bestselling collection and number-one silhouette, and will continue to grow the assortment.
As for how big a business this can become, Miree said, “Based on what we’ve seen happen, we already have a petites customer who’s buying our Spanx apparel. Today we’ve seen petites’ penetration in pants upward of 40 percent of our total business. We know there’s a captive audience there just waiting to be served, which is why we’re excited to deliver the solution,” Miree said.
Spanx launched Faux Leather leggings in petites in fall 2018, and The Perfect Black Pant in Petites in fall 2019.
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