So where did the whole plus size designer industry that we know today come from? Everyone knows about the rise of MODE magazine and their tragic fall from success, and I dare say everyone has heard of the plus size modeling agencies of Ford 12+, Curves, and Wilhelmina 10/20, but that doesn’t really answer the question. In my mind, for there to be a plus size modeling industry there first had to be something to model. Without something to market to the market niche, like plus size clothes, plus size shoes, plus size jewelry, or plus size maternity wear, there’s really no need for plus size models. That’s where plus size designers come in, and that’s where we go back to the roots of the industry, to a name that we’re all familiar with, Lane Bryant.
Lane Bryant is the store that is widely credited with being the first large-scale producer of womens’ plus size clothing, the first to push for plus size designers, and the first to use plus size models in their advertising. But where did they come from? Obviously, they haven’t ‘always been around’ like some people think. It all started back in the early 1900’s with a woman by the name of Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin.
Lena actually didn’t start out in the plus size marketplace. Rather, she started her professional career sewing plus size maternity clothes in a small shop on 5th Avenue in New York. From a shoestring cash infusion of $300 (about equivalent to $7500 in today’s dollars), Lena started sewing clothes and selling them to women from all walks of life. Due to an error on her application to open a bank account, she was listed as Lane instead of Lena, and the name stuck.
In 1909 Lena get married to Albert Malsin, and he became very involved in the business. He brought with him the methodical, process oriented eye of an engineer and accountant, and really helped to automate their clothing production. This kept prices down and allowed them to produce clothes from patterns at a high rate of speed. They were the original plus size designers. Unfortunately, pregnancy was somewhat of a taboo subject 100 years ago, and they had a hard time advertising their designer clothes to the masses. Eventually, they were able to get an advertisement run in a local newspaper, and they were soon up to the ears in customers. Lena soon made the realization that a large portion, if not the majority, of her customers were what she referred to as “stout-figured” women. She began to tailor her lines for that customer base, and it quickly became the main source of revenue for the company.
A little known fact is that Lena was one of the early pioneers of the mail order catalog as well. Due to the pressures from society that she faced, advertising was very difficult. She resolved to get her designer clothes in front of her customers somehow, and had a catalog printed that she would mail out. Soon, the plus size designer content in the catalog had overtaken the maternity content, and the course of the company was set.
