Target announced today that they would be launching plus size mannequins in their Chadstone store location in Melbourne, Australia, Herald Sun reports.
This is a huge step for the retailer, who will be the first to open its doors at the revamped Chadstone Shopping Centre. This Target location will be the first in a series of next generation stores the mass retailer is opening in Australia.
Target managing director Stuart Machin told Herald Sun:
“We know how important it is to be accessible for real Australians. We’ve always tried to cater for all sizes — from introducing our petites line with our Dannii for Target range right through to the Belle Curves collection that caters for women up to size 26.
The real-sized mannequins will take this commitment to diversity one step further, by helping everyday women to accurately see what clothes will look like on themselves and on a body that they can identify with.”
Machin wants the mannequins to help in changing how Australian women are represented by retailers:
“We hope that these mannequins will help to start a new conversation in the fashion industry, and trigger some change.”
He told Herald Sun that “he’s baffled why the Australian retail industry continues to use standard size eight mannequins when the average woman is a size 14.”
Kudos to Machin in helping Target to take part of the conversation of size diversity and fighting to genuinely represent everyday female customers in Australia.
The plus size mannequins launch in-store on Thursday, 9/10/15.