Ozempic wave boosts US cobblers and tailors as Americans tighten their belts

By Danielle Kaye and Alexander Marrow NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) Lorraine Scott has spent at least $300 to tailor her pants and jeans since losing 60 pounds on weight-loss drugs over the past year. Most of the things in my closet didn t fit anymore, she said. The 42-year-old Atlanta resident, who is known as Lorraine Kamesha to her YouTube followers, has opted to alter her favorite pairs of pants ​instead of investing in new ones as her weight fluctuates, while turning to fast fashion for the rest of her wardrobe. US consumers taking ‌weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk s Ozempic and Eli Lilly s Mounjaro have turned to cobblers and tailors as they try to save money while shedding pounds, motivated in part by a cost-of-living squeeze and rising out-of-pocket costs for the drugs as US employers increasingly drop GLP-1 coverage. Over the past year, leather repairers have seen a spike in requests for their services due to rapid weight loss — not just for belts, but also for shoe and ba