‘Don’t want to’: Business owner calls out Australian retail industry

A young Australian business owner has exposed a gross norm in her industry that she is absolutely fed up with.

Brittney Saunders, who owns the size-inclusive fashion label Fayt, has called out other Aussie brands for not extending their sizes.

Ms Saunders, 31, appeared on the new fashion-focused podcast Style-ish, a new brainchild from Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald, who co-hosts the successful pop culture podcast Shameless.

On the podcast, she explained that her brand, Fayt, starts from a size six and finishes at a size 26 because it makes good business sense.

“I don’t understand when brands say they don’t sell and that is why we don’t do them. It is like, yes, they do.” she said.

Brittney Saunders runs a size-inclusive brand. Picture: TikTok/Style-ish

She's revealed why other places aren't more size inclusive. Picture: TikTok/Style-ish

Originally, her brand launched with sizes six to 14 on offer, but she extended her size range because she could see the demand was there.

“I added a 16, and an 18, and then I thought maybe I could do a 20? And it was just a climb through every size until I got to where I am today,” she said.

Ms Saunders said she was inspired to keep extending her sizes because they were “selling” and customers appreciated them.

The process of becoming a size-inclusive brand also made her realise that “bigger brands” that don’t extend their sizes don’t have excuses not to.

“I would say, come on guys. I often look at them and think, if I can do it, just me and you’re this hundreds of millions dollars company, and you don’t. Like, what are you doing?” she said.

Ms Saunders said other brands aren’t size inclusive because they don’t want to be. Picture: Instagram/BrittneySaunders

Her business caters to all types of sizes and is thriving. Picture: Instagram/BrittneySaunders

Ms Saunders said that, as someone who has done the math and worked out a profitable way to offer sizes up to 26, she believes that brands that aren’t size-inclusive are just not interested.

“They don’t want too. I can’t think of any reason other than they don’t want to. It can be done,” she said.

The young business owner said that it does “cost more” to cater to more sizes. In the same way, it is more expensive to make a maxi dress than a top because you use more fabric for the dress, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a profitable decision.

But she believes a brand’s overall pricing can easily offset the extra costs.

“It costs more, yeah, it does, but you’re a business, and you figure that out and put it into your pricing,” she said.

Ms Saunders said that she knows people are frustrated by famous Aussie brands that haven’t extended their sizes, but she hopes consumers can focus on the businesses that are already catering to them.

“People are always demanding for brands to stock more sizes, and I get it, but pay attention to the brands doing it,” she said.