The retail group plans to introduce a new-name range and style changes in the women’s plus size clothing area, as well as implement new lingerie fitting advice and collections with a focus on first-bra buyers and post-surgery customers.
Existing plus size womenswear label Options Plus will be gradually phased out in favour of a new label, Moda, removing the reference to the size category in the name. It will cater for sizes 16 to 24 and offer a more versatile and trend-forward mix of youth oriented and mature styles. Office attire, denim, dresses, special occasionwear and contemporary casual clothing are included in the range, the release date for which is yet to be confirmed.
The lingerie department is reaching out to first-bra buyers, aiming to make the experience comfortable for young women with the introduction of Bra Tape, a free DIY bra measurement device that can be taken home to use.
Bra Tape is a disposable paper tape that features body size measurements on one side and cup size measurements on the other. It is designed to aid women in finding a correct bra fit without assistance.
Customers place the tape around the chest area to determine their size, and it is colour coded to match the respective hanger size on the shop floor.
Target buyer for bras and shapewear Megan Hook was actively behind the idea and said it was designed to demystify the bra fitting process.
“We felt there was a lot of information in the market telling women fitting bras was tricky,” she said.
The company has also launched a bra book, which offers advice on achieving a perfect fit for different body shapes, lifestyle pursuits and clothing styles. Limited copies will be available in stores, however key advice will appear on posters in female dressing rooms from this month.
A third new lingerie development is the introduction of post-surgery bras to 38 Target stores, with styles that can be worn with or without prosthetics. Hook said this range was designed for women who had undergone both mastectomy and enhancement surgery and would rival other labels in the market on price, retailing from $20 to $30.
From discussions with various cancer charities, she said it had become clear women often lacked confidence following cancer-related breast surgery. As a result, feminine detailing and comfort is key to the range, with sizes ranging from 10AA up to 18DD.
Hook revealed that further developments in the lingerie category included a range of “fashion fix-it” products, such as fashion tape, bra extensions and cleavage enhancers, in store from late October.
Shapewear has also been revamped with an eight-piece range of glamour shapewear, focusing on feminine detailing such as lace trim and mesh. These will also be released in October to coincide with the summer party season.
The moves come 10 months into the appointment of Target Australia group general manager of merchandise Mark Daynes, who joined the department store retailer from the UK in November last year. “My role is to bring my international and northern hemisphere thinking to what is already a very good fashion business,” he said.
Daynes said offering constantly updated merchandise was a key focus, along with keeping up stock of apparel basics.
Designer collaborations have been a feature for Target in previous seasons, but Daynes said there were none on the immediate horizon.
“We don’t feel the timing is right to bring a new designer to Target this calender year as customers are cautious about what they are spending and looking for great value,” he said. “However, we are in early discussions with a number of international designers in preparation for when we feel the timing is right.”