Celebrating 25 Years since SizeUK
- Harry Checkley
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
Celebrating 25 Years since SizeUK: How 3D Body Scanning Changed Sizing and Health Metrics
In 2001, 11,000 people across Britain volunteered for the world's first-ever national 3D sizing survey, incentivised in part by a £20 voucher to spend in their favourite retailers, who helped to sponsor the project. Some of those retailers no longer exist, but most do, and the legacy of the project they took part in has proved to be far more long-reaching.
This project was SizeUK, the world's first national sizing survey to utilise 3D whole-body scanning technology to find better-fitting clothes for retailers.
The retailers asked Select Research to help manage SizeUK following five successful 3D sizing projects Select had completed for Marks & Spencer and NEXT. SizeUK had been commissioned with funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and was led by UCL, with other leading universities and a consortium of 17 major high-street retailers involved. The experience of Select in managing large sizing surveys for M&S and NEXT then led to Select being commissioned to manage all of the recruitment and data sampling for SizeUK. A national press launch in July 2001 kicked off the recruitment of public volunteers, with scanning beginning at eight venues across the UK a few weeks later. The first person had their 3D scan measured on 4th August 2001 in London.
Each venue ran with a team of seven, processing between 80 and 110 volunteers on the busiest days. Not every volunteer needed persuading; in Wales, BBC weather presenter Derek Brockway happily donned the survey's robe to help launch the regional leg in Cardiff, later admitting the resulting scan was something of a wake-up call. Ultimately, the survey did help to transform how clothing fit was implemented across the nation.
Twenty-five years later, that ground-breaking work has evolved far beyond high-street retail, moving from static scanning booths to mobile 3D scanning on your smartphone.
📌 In This Article
What Was SizeUK?
When Select did their first 3D scanning project on female body shape for NEXT in 1997, clothing sizing charts relied almost exclusively on manual data collected with a tape measure that had not been updated on a national basis since the 1950s. As lifestyle habits and demographics changed , existing retail assumptions no longer reflected the reality size and shape of British shoppers. With retailers such as NEXT and M&S now leading the way by using this new 3D technology, the need for a 3D national sizing survey for the entire UK clothing industry became apparent.
Although Select had collected 3D data and measured over 10,000 men, women and children for M&S and NEXT between 1997 and 2000 in different parts of the UK, in 2001 SizeUK changed the landscape by introducing 3D body scanning on a national scale. For SizeUK, Select Research was commissioned to manage data collection and participant recruitment across the UK, structuring the recruitment process to mirror demographic national statistics on age, geography, ethnicity and socio-economic background, to ensure the survey was representative. The 3D scanning took place in England, Scotland and Wales to ensure there was a genuine geographical spread of participants.
The Scale & Key Stakeholders
The operational scale of SizeUK made history as the first ever ‘national’ 3D survey:
11,000+ Volunteers: Over 11,000 men and women aged 18 to 85 were scanned across the United Kingdom, from the tallest at nearly 7ft tall to the shortest at under 5ft.
130 Measurements Per Person: Every participant was measured automatically in full-body 3D scanners collecting over 130 data points.
These automatic 3D measurements were then supplemented by collecting manual measurements of the same volunteers that the 3D body scanners couldn't capture.
Together, these measurements created more than 1.5 million data points of human body shape.
A Landmark Cross-Sector Collaboration
SizeUK was also unique in that it brought together public policy, academia and industry through key partnerships:
Government & Research Bodies: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DTI), which provided public funding for the project
Academic Partners: University College London (UCL), London College of Fashion (LCF), Heriot-Watt University, Leeds College of Art & Design, Manchester Metropolitan University, Nottingham Trent University, Birmingham City University, Cardiff Metropolitan University and Solent University. UCL and LCF managed the overall project, with the other Universities providing venues to house the 3D scanner and staffing for data collection.
Retail Consortium: 17 major retailers including Marks & Spencer (M&S), John Lewis Partnership, House of Fraser, Debenhams, Tesco, Arcadia Group, Oasis, Speedo, Monsoon Accessorize and REDCATS UK. M&S were not initially involved in SizeUK as they had their own data from the previous projects that Select had managed for them. However, after Select became involved in SizeUK, they persuaded M&S to become involved. This meant that a ‘national’ project then had the UK’s largest retailer involved as well. M&S provided additional funding for SizeUK, as did all of the other retailers, over and above the public grant funding from the DTI.
3D Body Scanning Specialists: Select Research and other 3D experts were involved to ensure that the technical aspects of the project were covered for the retailers and the DTI.
Key Findings: The Change in British Body Shapes
Data collection of all the 3D scans for SizeUK took about eighteen months and when the survey data was analysed and announced in 2004, it delivered conclusive proof that British bodies had changed significantly over the preceding five decades:
60%+ Fit Difficulty: In the self-completion questionnaires, more than 60% of UK shoppers reported struggling to find clothing that fitted properly off the shelf.
Waistline Expansion: Average female waist measurements had increased by 16.5cm (over 6 inches) compared to 1950s baseline figures.
3D Proof for Retail: The human body is a complex three-dimensional shape. Now, for the first time, retailers had exact 3D data showing how real body proportions differed from standard manual data assumptions. This brought 3D ‘body shape’ into the design and production process for a large section of UK retailers for the first time.
The Impact of SizeUK
The impact of SizeUK as the first ever ‘national’ sizing survey in 3D resonated across the global apparel industry. SizeUSA swiftly followed SizeUK and other national sizing surveys were set up and took place elsewhere across the world. Major retailers started to update their production specifications and garment sizing to better fit real shoppers and the new data was used to engineer a new generation of 3D generic fit mannequins directly from real scan ‘avatars’, replacing the assumptions mannequins had previously been built on using manual measurements. SizeUK became the international benchmark for other national body measurement studies, directly inspiring subsequent 3D sizing surveys in the US, Germany, and Korea in subsequent years.
Further national sizing surveys by Select Research
SizeUK provided a benchmark as being the first ever national sizing survey for the retail clothing industry, but it wasn’t going to be the last.
The retailers were pleased with the management by Select Research of SizeUK between 2001 and 2004, so two different consortiums of retailers directly commissioned Select to undertake two further national sizing surveys; in 2008 and 2018.
2008: The ShapeGB National Childrenswear Survey measured over 2,500 4-17 year old boys and girls across the UK using 3D scanners. Manual measurements were collected on children aged 0-4 years. This project was sponsored and financed by six major retailers; Tesco, M&S, NEXT, Monsoon/Accessorize, George at ASDA and Shop Direct. Four Universities; Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Hull, Loughborough University and the University of Hertfordshire assisted Select with the data collection.
This project is believed to be the first large-scale project to measure children using 3D body scanning technology and produced over 0.5m measurements of children using 3D technology.
2018: The ShapeGB National Adult Survey took place and was a milestone in technical advancement of 3D scanning technology. Since 2011, Select has developed and patented the first 2D to 3D scanning system to generate a 3D Model of a person from just 2 images, using any smartphone or tablet. The R&D for this technology had been funded since 2011 by Innovate UK and other funding bodies of the UK Government, but also with financial backing from the EU Horizon2020 programme. The adult ShapeGB project itself was then funded by Innovate UK with additional funding from six large UK retailers; Tesco, M&S, NEXT, ASOS, River Island and Monsoon/Accessorize. The retailers approached millions of their customers, who used the technology Select had developed to be measured in their own homes, using their own smartphones to collect the data.
This was a world first for the retail industry, after Select already had used the same technology to launch the BVI Pro in May 2017 with Mayo Clinic for healthcare; again a world first for this new technology. Select had patented their 2011 invention of creating a 3D scan from 2D images for healthcare in April 2017. They filed the same invention as an application for retail sizing and body shape for clothing in March 2018 as well.
How did the the Body Volume Index (BVI) come from sizing for clothes?
Between 1997 and 2004, Richard Barnes, CEO of Select Research and his team had worked extensively on sizing studies for M&S, NEXT, Aristoc, and SizeUK. Through this pioneering 3D work, Richard recognised that 3D body scanning held potential far beyond apparel fit and potentially more impact if applied in healthcare.
At this time, 3D scans only measure the whole of the body, but measuring body shape and weight distribution offered a far more accurate assessment of individual health risks than traditional height-to-weight ratios like Body Mass Index (BMI). Richard found out that BMI was invented in 1835 and was only ever intended to measure populations, not individuals, so he worked out that dividing the body into sections digitally to measure where the weight is would be a better way than using BMI.
This is where the idea for the Body Volume Index (BVI) came from. BVI, as a new 3D digital measurement for healthcare, was then launched publicly in March 2007 at the Royal College of Physicians in London.
BVI now uses advanced computer learning to evaluate health risks based on the body shape and volume distribution of an individual person rather than just total weight.
Bringing 3D Metrics to the Smartphone
In 2001, capturing the body shape of a person in 3D required a static 3D scanning ‘booth’, similar to the ones in airport security. Now, thanks to advances in mobile technology and machine learning, that same technology now fits in the mobile phone in your pocket.
With the myBVI app, users can now capture accurate 3D body volume measurements directly using a smartphone camera, bringing 25 years of 3D measurement innovation gleaned from the M&S, NEXT and SizeUK projects for healthcare purposes too.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the SizeUK survey conducted?
Recruitment was launched with a national press event in July 2001, with scanning taking place across UK regional hubs over the following months. Headline results were made available in 2004.
What was Select Research's role in SizeUK?
Select Research managed data collection and the national recruitment strategy. Serving as Data Controller for the project, Select Research ensured the target sample of over 11,000 participants accurately reflected national demographic statistics across age, geography and socio-economic background.
How does Body Volume Index (BVI) differ from the traditional Body Mass Index (BMI)?
BMI only calculates the overall height of a person compared to their weight. The Body Volume Index (BVI) measures people in 3D, using static images and then measures, by volume, what the distribution of that weight is. Using weight distribution as a better starting point than BMI means that BVI can then analyse specific body composition and predict health risks more accurately.
Experience 25 Years of 3D Innovation in Your Pocket
What could be done with stationary 3D scanning booths in 2001 can now be calculated in just a few seconds using just two images on your mobile phone. These images are deleted from your phone straight away. In 2026, you can track your body volume, composition and health metrics directly with myBVI, using just your own phone.
👉 Try tracking your measurements with the myBVI app.
Thank you for reading, Celebrating 25 Years since SizeUK.
Select Research.
Comments