Plus Size Women Didn’t Ask to Be Included in Wellness. We Built Our Own.
We already know this part.
Plus size women make up roughly 67 percent of women in the United States, with the average woman wearing a size 14 or above. That’s not opinion, that’s data straight from the CDC.
We’ve cited it. We’ve discussed it. We’ve lived it.
But before we go any further, let’s pause for a second and define what we actually mean when we say wellness, because the plus size wellness industry has been gatekept, whitewashed, and shrink-wrapped for far too long.
Wellness is not a six-pack.
Wellness is not a juice cleanse.
Wellness is not a before-and-after photo.
Wellness is access. It’s information. It’s movement that works for your body. It’s mental health support that doesn’t shame you. It’s clothing that lets you breathe. It’s healthcare you don’t avoid because you’re bracing for judgment. It’s stress management, community, rest, joy, and choice.
And here’s the part that often gets missed. Wellness is not exclusive to straight size people. Plus size folks have always participated in wellness. We’ve just been excluded from the marketing, the imagery, and the conversations that defined it.
That’s exactly why you’re seeing a dedicated wellness category on The Curvy Fashionista now.
As access expands and resources become more visible, it felt necessary and honestly overdue for TCF to dive deeper into wellness through a plus size lens. Not as a trend, not as a rebrand, but as a continuation of what we’ve always done here. We talk about real lives, real bodies, and the systems that impact how we move through the world.
Wellness isn’t a finish line. We all have different areas we prioritize at different times. Physical, mental, emotional, financial, sexual, social. It shifts. It evolves. It meets us where we are.
And if wellness is truly about well-being, then plus size people were never outside of it.
We were just never centered.
That’s what’s changing.
Plus Size Wellness Industry Disruption Starts with Exclusion
Let’s start with the obvious.
The wellness industry didn’t fail plus size women because we weren’t interested. It failed because it was built around a single body ideal and refused to evolve.
Fitness is the clearest example.
Plus size people have always worked out. The industry just didn’t bother designing for us.
That’s why brands like Superfit Hero exist. Founder Kelly Lawson didn’t invent a new customer. She listened to one that had been ignored.
As Lawson told Forbes:
“Fat people already work out. They always have. The industry just hasn’t made space for them.”
That quote right there explains the entire plus size wellness industry shift. Demand was always present. Access was not.
And when mainstream brands finally realized how much money they were leaving on the table, the pivot was fast.
In 2023, Nike publicly recommitted to extended sizing after backlash over shrinking its plus size offerings, signaling a renewed focus on inclusive sport.
Wellness didn’t become inclusive because it grew empathy. It became inclusive because exclusion stopped scaling.
The Plus Size Influence Economy Isn’t Cute. It’s Strategic.
Here’s where people still get it twisted.
Plus size wellness creators aren’t just posting content. They’re building trust-based economies.
We found that creators with highly engaged niche audiences consistently outperform broader campaigns when it comes to conversion and loyalty, especially in wellness and lifestyle categories.
That’s not an accident.
Plus size audiences have been marketed to poorly for decades. When someone shows up authentically, we notice and we stay.
Plus size fashion writer and strategist Nicolette Mason said it best:
“People want to see bodies that look like theirs doing things they were told they couldn’t do.”
That visibility doesn’t just change minds. It moves money.
Fashion Is Part of the Plus Size Wellness Industry. Period.
If you can’t move comfortably, breathe easily, or feel confident in your clothes, your wellness is already compromised.
That’s why fashion sits squarely inside the plus size wellness industry, whether people like it or not.
The global plus size apparel market is projected to exceed $322 billion by 2034, driven by demand that brands ignored for far too long.
And it’s not just about selling more fabric. It’s about restoring dignity.
When Plus BKLYN opened its doors, founder Alexis Krase proved something the industry pretended not to know. We want in-store experiences too.
Krase told Racked:
“People want the experience. Plus size customers have been denied that for so long.”
Wellness doesn’t exist without access. Clothing is access.
Mental Health Is Where the Real Breakthrough Happened
This is the part the wellness industry truly got wrong for years.
It treated plus size bodies as problems to be fixed instead of people to be supported.
The American Psychological Association has repeatedly linked weight stigma to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and healthcare avoidance.
So, when plus size wellness brands began centering self-trust, autonomy, and mental health, they weren’t ignoring science. They were applying it correctly.
Author and activist Virgie Tovar explained it clearly:
“Health isn’t a moral obligation, and thinness isn’t proof of it.”
That mindset didn’t just change messaging. It changed business models.
Plus Size Women Didn’t Climb Corporate Ladders. We Built New Companies.
Let’s be honest.
Traditional corporate wellness spaces were never designed with plus size women in mind. So instead of fighting for scraps, many of us built alternatives.
According to McKinsey, companies with women in leadership outperform peers on employee satisfaction and long-term growth.
When you add size bias to gender bias, entrepreneurship becomes less of a choice and more of a survival skill.
And plus size women are using it brilliantly.
The Future of the Plus Size Wellness Industry Is Already Here
Here’s the truth I keep coming back to.
The plus size wellness industry didn’t evolve because it wanted to. It evolved because it had to.
Plus size women stopped waiting. We built brands, platforms, clinics, content, communities, and companies that actually serve real bodies and real lives.
This isn’t a moment. It’s a market correction.
And the brands paying attention right now are the ones that will still be relevant tomorrow.
The rest? They’ll keep wondering why their wellness messaging isn’t landing.
We already know the answer.
