How fashion label Witchery caused a stir with their rebrand

By Jess Molina *

Analysis – If you’ve been bombarded with content and commentary about Australian fashion label Witchery lately and you’re wondering what’s going on, you’re not alone.

It’s a hot topic in the fashion world right now – and maybe it’s just my algorithm serving me this content – but it seems as though the majority of the sentiment has been negative.

However, this is no witch-hunt.

Their rebrand has sparked controversy for a number of reasons, including removing size 20 from their offering and releasing a collection that was quite basic for the price point – all pretty underwhelming for a brand promising and teasing a ‘bold awakening’.

Here’s the thing, I’ve only just recently discovered that Witchery carries a size 20, and when I found out I immediately rushed to my closest store to try a blazer on. As someone who loves fashion and exists in a bigger body, it is rare to be able to find a blazer in a reasonable price point that I can actually physically try in store.

Most brands comparable to Witchery in the market don’t often cater to a bigger size, so when I saw online that not only did they have a more diverse range of bodies in their marketing imagery, I literally ran, not walked, to the store.

I was so stoked to fit this blazer, and since this discovery I’ve actually shopped the brand more than I ever have. I’ve acquired a few pieces in a size 18 and 20 in a short amount of time and I was excited to finally have this option.

I bought well fitted blazers, coats, and skirts in fabrics that I would normally not fit in stores.

Writer Jess Molina says vanity sizing is outdated and doesn’t work.
Photo: Supplied

I was actually in one of the stores when I found out about the rebrand going live a few days later.

I was trying out a satin maxi dress that looked so lovely on my body, and again in a fabric that doesn’t usually get used to cater to this dress size in store, and I remember feeling so excited when they told me that they had a very great range launching, with a colour palette that I was really into.

So imagine my surprise when on the day of launch, I went online and saw that the size 20 was completely gone.

In 2024, when more consumers are being vocal about the fact that they want more size inclusivity, Witchery indeed made the ‘bold’ choice to take themselves off that market.

Why scrap size 20?

I did some research and saw that the brand addressed it by saying: “If you were a size 20 with Witchery before, we welcome you to try an 18 instead”.

For a clothing brand who you’d think would know better, they don’t seem to understand size differences. Nor have they considered the fact that the average size of a woman in New Zealand and Australia is a size 14, so they only now carry two sizes above that, and five below.

The disparity between carrying sizes considered XS and XXS (Witchery starts with a 4) but not XXL anymore sends a strong message. In this day and age, with the budgets and production access that Witchery has, doing so is a deliberate choice.

While I think the new collection is beautiful, and the pieces are elevated and timeless while still feeling current, I’m disappointed to say the least.

For one, it took me this long to discover that Witchery carried up to a size 20, and the world of shopping just opened up a little bit more for those of us not existing in a straight sized body.

I’ve been reading comments, and one of the points raised was that perhaps size 20 wasn’t selling and that’s why it was cut. And to that I say – if it took me this long to find out that Witchery had a decent size range, and I’m someone in the fashion industry, how would the average consumer find out?

I know for a lot of plus sized people, we don’t really check out stores that historically have excluded us, so my question is, how committed was Witchery to marketing that reflected this diversity?

To offer the solution ‘just try a size 18 and see’ is insulting to their customer base and fans alike.

We already know how hard it is to find the correct size, as that’s dependent on so many factors – cut, fabric, style. Not to mention body shape.

To disregard their size 20 customers, after they’ve already shown us that it is possible to cater to our bodies if they really wanted to, is a pretty bold awakening.

Here are some of my favourite size inclusive brands to shop from:

The Carpenters Daughter

Isla Maree

Florence and Fortitude

Lost and Led Astray

Loclaire

Zambesi

House of Boom

Havilah

RUBY

Federation

* Jess Molina is a writer and content creator in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle space.