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Retail

Debenhams to use bigger mannequins aimed at "average women"

The retail giant will use size 16 models as well as size 10 versions.

HIGH STREET TITANS Debenhams will roll out larger mannequins in the next few months – in a move to attract more “average women”.

Most retailers use size 10-12 models, but Debenhams Ed Watson says that is unrepresentative of the average woman.

“The average woman is a size 16, but the high street has been showing them clothing on a mannequin that is three sizes smaller until now.

“Having worked on this project for three years, we hope that it will help people in some small way to feel comfortable about their bodies and crucially, that other retailers will follow.

“And following the launch, we will be looking to increase the number of size 16 mannequins in Oxford Street and to start rolling them out to all 170 UK and Ireland stores.”

Debenhams operates ten stores in Ireland and UK and the move comes as part of a wider campaign to make customers more confident about their bodies. The company had previously banned airbrushing on swimwear imagery.

The company designed a new style of mannequin for the displays after research found that women are three times more likely to buy clothes when the model is their size.

Read: “Remarkable year” for Penneys as revenue rises by 22 per cent

Read: HMV opens another new Irish store today — this time online

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