“Mais que vender roupas”: o Pop Plus na construção social do subcampo econômico da moda plus size no Brasil

Abstract

The plus-size clothing segment is the fastest growing in the economic field of fashion. In mid2010, the economic subfield of plus size fashion began to grow in Brazil, so that the growth of this segment has increasingly altered the configurations of the economic field of fashion. This growth is generally associated with cultural changes, as well as with the processes of building supply and demand for plus size fashion. The aim of this dissertation is to understand, by analysing the Pop Plus fair, the social logic behind the creation of the economic subfield of plus size fashion in Brazil. To do this, bibliographical research, participant observation, interviews, descriptive analysis and multiple correspondence analysis were used. This dissertation concludes that the construction and growth of the economic subfield of plus size fashion is not only due to the need for brands to sell garments in large sizes, but also due to changes in cultural standards. Generally speaking, changes in beauty standards, the growth of anti-gordophobia movements and the growth in demand for plus-size clothing were all factors that influenced the growth in the commercialisation of plus-size clothing. Finally, from participant observation it was possible to see that the economic subfield of plus size fashion is legitimised by the meanings that these garments have, both for those who sell them and for those who consume them, given that the production of the offer takes into account aesthetic and ethical factors as well as economic factors. Based on the descriptive and multiple correspondence analyses, it was possible to conclude that the location of the shopkeepers is a determining factor in differentiating the economic subfield of plus size fashion, while body features, especially the fact that they are fat women, bring the agents of the subfield closer together.