plus-size workwear
Photograph courtesy of Henning via WWD

This New Fashion Label is Serving Up Tailored Workwear For Sizes 12-24

Say hello to Henning

Henning, a new line of tailored workwear designed specifically for women between the sizes of 12-24, is launching next week.

The brand is the brainchild of former fashion editor and plus-size model Lauren Chan. Chan, who was born in Canada and went to university in Ontario, got the idea for the brand whilst working at Glamour. She noticed she wasn’t able to wear the same labels as her colleagues and the impact it had on the way she carried herself at work. “More than just feeling like you’re in a fast-fashion brand, the function of those clothes affects your work,” the designer explained to WWD. “If it’s rayon, your body odour is stuck in the fabric, even if you wash it, and you don’t want to put your hand up in a meeting. Or you’re pulling at your shirt in a meeting because the buttons are gaping. There are tangible effects of clothing not being well made. It’s not like you need to wear something at this level every day, but I just wanted one great suit for my very important meetings. I wanted one knockout dress to take me from work to ‘Women of the Year’ where I knew I would be photographed. And I didn’t have that.”

Hence, Henning (whose tagline is “Poised. Elegant. F*%^ing Brilliant.”)  was born.

The line is geared towards “corporate creatives” and has a menswear-inspired feeling to it. Tailored trousers are offered alongside poplin cotton shirts which contain secret buttons to stop gaping, trench coats in sophisticated cuts and dresses. The pieces are all made in New York “of fabric with natural content” which Chan says “is extremely hard to find in plus sizes.” There are 10 styles on offer in total this season, and each was developed after directly consulting consumers and finding out what they were looking for in their wardrobes.

Going live in a matter of days (September 3 to be exact), Chan has hired a diverse cast of women to model and promote the range. This decision, she says, was to help combat the lack of inclusive advertising for plus-size women. “We did our best to show on as many sizes as we could, but also something that’s really important to me, was if we’re having four models, to have three of four be women of colour.”

Henning launches online at HenningNYC.com on September 3.

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