Simply Be was established around 10 years ago by the N Brown Group to fill a gap in the market. The brand recognised that larger ladies in their 30s still wanted to be fashionable, wearing the latest trends, prints and colours.
Alan White, Chief Executive of N Brown Group, explains: “We realised that there were plenty of plus size offers on the market but none that were catering for those people who wanted to be fashionable.
“Our customers tend to be in their late 30s, so it’s not the young ‘young fashion’ category like Top Shop and Asos but they are still customers that want to be wearing the latest colours, the latest trends and the latest styles. We design the clothes in a way that suits the fuller figure.
“Plus size clothing doesn’t need to be dull and shapeless. Customers want to wear the big bold patterns and colours and follow fashion as much as anyone else.
“Simply Be designs garments appropriate for the fuller figure. High street brands target the size 10 and 12 figure, but sell items in larger sizes but the garments were never designed for a size 20. The bigger sizes are not generally in the right proportions. That’s why we have been so successful because we are focusing on the requirements of that plus size customer.
“One of the things we pride ourselves on is having products in a whole variety of sizes. Typically, Simply Be will sell from size 14 through to size 34. We also sell skirts and trousers in a variety of leg lengths, and our ‘simply voluptuous’ range which includes garments which recognise the bigger bust sizes and different scales of voluptuousness.
“We also sell a range of ladies full-length leather boots which are available in four different calf sizes. Whatever the shape of your body, we will find you something that makes you look good.”
Simply Be began as a catalogue retailer, but embraced the internet to become a multi-channel retailer. Now, around 70 per cent of the brand’s orders are placed online.
White said: “This allows us to introduce our take on ‘fast fashion’ by introducing capsule ranges during the season. When planning a catalogue, you have to finalise the range much earlier than a high street store so if we find any gap, such as a certain colour or trend we have overlooked, we can design, produce and sell that product online within the space of six weeks.”
Speaking about social media platforms, White adds: “Simply Be has everything from its Facebook site to a Twitter feed. There are also a number of plus size blogs that we work actively with. We are moving into an era where customers believe other customers more than they believe the brands themselves.”
For many years, the UK brand has also been present in southern Ireland and in 2009 Simply Be launched in Germany, both online and through the catalogue. It has also introduced an international orders button on the Simply Be website.
In August the brand entered one of the most challenging markets in the world – the US.
For the full article, please see the July/August 2011 issue.
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