A couple weeks ago there was a post on Fatshionista about everyone’s love/hate relationship with Torrid. Members posted an open letter to the retailer about how they feel about their clothing, service, quality etc. While I found some good points (price point and quality) which were mentioned several times by many different people, overall, I felt like there was a lot of ranting or people being overly snarky and not actually giving constructive criticism.
A member posted that it would be great if Torrid became sort of a plus sized H&M and I immediately thought YES, that’s a great idea! One of the other concerns members had what the fact that it seems Torrid is catering to a younger demographic and the over 25 demographic is being left out. That is definitely a valid point and I think that if Torrid actually went the H&M route and had different lines under the Torrid umbrella, things would be a lot better for a lot of people. They could have a youth line full of the neon colors, acid wash, and super trendy clothing, a more sophisticated line for people in their 20’s & 30s, their signature Edge line, and my personal favorite, an avant garde line.
With Topshop now open in the US, retailers like Urban Outfitters and H&M are having to step up their game in terms of fashion-forward clothing at affordable prices. A few weeks ago, H&M released their new Fall 2009 Divided Exclusive look book and I seriously want every single piece. I then thought, if Torrid could emulate something like this for the plus sized community, it would be so huge. Of course, people would still complain but they’d gain a lot of loyal customers and basically have the all of the demographics (14-49) on lock. The thing is, Torrid and H&M have the same price points but the quality is totally different. That’s a major problem that Torrid needs to address. While none of my Torrid things have ever fallen apart, stretchy knit dresses with an elastic banded bottom only go so far.
Here are some of the looks from the H&M look book. Let me know how you guys feel about Torrid and what type of clothing you would want to see them carry or produce.
(images taken from nitrolicious.com)
