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A30 FEATURE
Tuesday 21 July 2020
Pandemic throws lives - and waistlines - into flux

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO of sizing issues but also be-
NEW YORK (AP) — When cause of buyers' remorse
Allison Weiss Brady and Mi- and shipping delays.
chael Ladin emerged from Brady took advantage
weeks of locking down dur- of sales and spent sev-
ing the pandemic, they eral thousands of dollars
needed new clothes in in recent weeks on a new
new sizes — for different wardrobe that included,
reasons. T-shirts, inexpensive sum-
Brady, 49, a charity fund- mer dresses, and designer
raiser from a Philadelphia sweatshirts. She also sent
suburb, had been pulling her new measurements to
back on her candy buying her personal shoppers at
sprees during the lockdown Neiman Marcus and Saks.
and stepped up the cardio "I feel great. My (old) clothes
workouts at her home gym are huge," said Brady, who
out of boredom. She lost hadn't modeled in years
20 pounds and went down but was recently hired on
two sizes. In contrast, La- by a local agency.
din, 58, of Oak Park, Illinois, Still, weight fluctuations
gained 10 pounds this past may be here to stay as
spring after sitting around Lauren Wire, a 32-year-old publicist who lives in Manhattan, poses for a portrait before a fitness surges in new cases around
eating chips and dip. class Wednesday, July 15, 2020, in New York. the country force states like
"I'm not surprised. If I don't Associated Press California to re-close busi-
work out consistently, I gain nesses like gyms and en-
weight," said Ladin, who Associated Press. "For most, it sees in January after the remainder, 15% gained courage shoppers to shel-
works in marketing. it's been a long time since winter holidays, he says. more than 5 pounds, while ter at home again.
Many Americans like Ladin they've tried on a pair of "Because it is a huge spike, 20% lost more than five Lauren Wire a 32-year-old
and Brady are changing jeans, and they may be up we think it is because of pounds. Brown called this publicist who lives in Man-
clothing sizes depending or down a size." the weight gain," said Shar- change "pronounced," hattan, says she worries
on how they spent their Some companies are even ma, whose app has about noting two-thirds of cus- that another lock down
time sheltering at home. adding larger sizes in re- 50,000 users nationwide. tomers typically don't have could keep her gym closed
And brands from Levi sponse to shoppers' gain- "They are sitting around, any weight change during during the winter months.
Strauss & Co. to lingerie la- ing weight, or what has they don't go to the gym, such a short time period. She gained back 12 of the
bel Cosabella are taking been dubbed COVID-15. and they don't go for jogs." Narvar Inc., a software 50 pounds she lost leading
note. So are body measur- Guido Campello, co-CEO Fit Match, a startup firm company that powers re- up to the pandemic be-
ing technology companies, of luxury lingerie brands that's rolling out 3D tech- turns for more than 200 cause she was ordering in
which report that shoppers Cosabella and Journelle, nology to scan customers brands, says online returns a lot from restaurants and
are changing their mea- said that his two brands bodies at malls, found only have doubled from mid- partaking in social distance
surements on their online have been adding more one-third of the hundred March to early June, ac- cocktails with friends. She
profiles. generous cuts of some of its
The trend could be good most popular styles in bras
for clothing companies and sleepwear in recent
— new sizes likely mean weeks because of inter-
that customers' wardrobes est from its 2,100 store ac-
need to be updated. But counts. Loyal customers at
retailers, already feeling its store locations are also
the pain of decreased requesting new sizes while
spending during uncertain making more exchanges.
economic times, are also Size fluctuations are bear-
facing an increase in costly ing out in data from body
returns as shoppers try to measuring app Perfitly LLC.
figure out their new sizes. It cites a 20% increase in us-
"Anecdotally, we're seeing ers redoing their avatars in
shoppers come back into April and May, compared
stores unsure of their size," with the same period a
said Marc Rosen, executive year ago, according to
vice president and presi- the company's co-founder
dent of Levi Strauss Ameri- and CEO Dave Sharma.
cas, in a statement to The That spike is similar to what

Lauren Wire works out during a fitness class Wednesday, July 15, 2020, in New York.
Associated Press

women it surveyed in Tex- cording to founder and says she bought new shorts
as where it piloted its first CEO Amit Sharma. Retailers and swimwear when she
program had no weight face more than $800 million gained the weight but
change during the lock- in expenses from the addi- now she's starting to shed
down, says founder and tional returns in the second pounds again by biking
CEO Haniff Brown. Of the quarter, in part because outside. q