Fashion retailer H&M has discontinued its 3XL and 4XL clothing sizes, citing lower demand. Research firm Edited, which tracks retail inventory, found these sizes were entirely absent from H&M's new women's dresses for spring/summer 2026, compared to making up 2% of new inventory in the same period last year. Other large sizes also saw reductions, with XXL down 3% and XL down 2%, while smaller sizes (XS to large) rose by 3% on average.
H&M confirmed to the Guardian that it continually monitors fit and sizing demand and has chosen to discontinue 3XL and 4XL sizes due to lower demand. Model and activist Tess Holliday, who previously worked as a size and inclusivity consultant for H&M in 2023, stated she no longer works with the brand and expressed pessimism about the genuineness of such collaborations.
Other brands are also scaling back plus-sized garments. Mango reduced its new dress inventory in sizes 16 to 20 from 6.6% in spring/summer 2025 to 0.5% in spring/summer 2026. Anthropology's plus-sized dress offerings decreased from 10.5% to 9% year-on-year in July 2026. This trend follows previous rollbacks, including the closure of Loft's plus-size range in 2021 and Old Navy scaling back offerings in May 2022.
Some analysts, such as Impact Analytics' CEO Prashant Agrawal, attribute these changes to the increasing popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. Mintel research indicates that 18% of US adults reported using GLP-1 drugs as of June 2025, up from 12% in 2024. Gallup data shows the rate of US adult obesity dropped from 39.9% in 2022 to 36.4% this year.
Despite these shifts, research suggests that the majority of Americans remain plus-sized. Jack Plunkett, CEO of Plunkett Research, estimated last year that 66% of US women still wear size 14 or above. The secondhand market is seeing increased demand for larger garments, with ThredUp reporting a 17.4% growth in purchase volume for large, XL, and plus-sized women's apparel so far this year, more than double the growth rate for small and medium sizes.