![]() | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1904 |
Founder | Lena Himmelstein |
Headquarters | , United States |
Number of locations | 424 stores |
Products | Apparel, intimates and athleisure |
Parent | The Limited (1982–1999) Charming Shoppes (2001-2012) Ascena Retail Group (2012–2020) Premium Apparel LLC (affiliate of Sycamore Partners) (2021-Present) |
Website | www |
Lane Bryant Inc. is an American women's apparel and intimates specialty retailer focusing on plus-size clothing. The company began in 1904 with maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. [1] Lane Bryant, Inc., is the largest plus-size retailer in the United States. As of 2022, the chain consists of 448 stores in 46 U.S. states (only Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming do not have Lane Bryant stores). [2] Lane Bryant, Inc. is not affiliated with Lane Bryant catalog (Brylane, Inc.), which was spun off as a separate business in 1993. [3]
Widowed at an early age, and the orphaned daughter of Lithuanian Jewish refugees, Lena Bryant supported herself and her young son as a dressmaker. Borrowing $300 from her brother-in-law, Bryant went to the bank to open an account. The bank officer misspelled her name on the application as Lane instead of Lena. In 1904, she rented a small storefront on Fifth Avenue with living quarters in the back for $12.50 a month. There she hung her garments from the gas fixtures and opened the doors. [1]
Asked by one of her pregnant customers to design something "presentable but comfortable" to wear in public, Bryant created a dress with an elasticized waistband and accordion-pleated skirt. This would become the first known commercially made maternity dress. This dress was welcomed not only by middle-class women, but also by poorer pregnant women who had to work. The maternity dress soon became the best-selling garment in Bryant's shop. [1]
When Bryant married Albert Malsin in 1909, he took charge of the business. He systematically began to develop and expand it. Albert instituted engineering exactness, and modern cost accounting and pricing. Sales had reached $50,000 a year by 1910 (equivalent to $1,635,000in 2023). Albert was determined to steer the operation towards specialization. To produce in quantity and at lower cost he began to have dozens of dresses mechanically cut at once and employed high-speed sewing methods. Lane Bryant began supplying design pattern materials and financing for contractors.
Though Bryant came up with an innovative and commercially viable product, she had trouble getting the word out: Tradition dictated that topics like pregnancy were not discussed in the press. Her husband took on this challenge by convincing the New York Herald to accept advertising for their venture in 1911. When the paper did, the shop's entire stock sold out the next day. [1]
Bryant saw another need just before World War I. Before then, there were no mass manufacturers of clothing in larger sizes for women. After measuring 4,500 of her own customers, as well as gathering information from about 200,000 other women, it was obvious that a new challenge had to be met. Bryant determined three types of stout women and designed clothing to fit each. Plus-sized clothing quickly eclipsed the maternity line, and by 1923, company sales reached $5 million (equivalent to $89 million in 2023). [1]
To bypass exclusion from the newspapers, the Malsins created the first mail order catalog for maternity wear. The mail order business was developed for the women preferring privacy about their "condition". By 1917, revenues from the catalog alone exceeded one million dollars (equivalent to $24 million in 2023). By 1919, their "stout catalog" had 52 pages and the "maternity catalog" had 76 pages. [1]
Lena Bryant was a pioneer in other ways. Her customers were important to her, and customer relations and corporate philanthropy were high on her list. At her suggestion, Lane Bryant, Inc. worked with the Red Cross to replace any Lane Bryant customer's wardrobe destroyed in a disaster. After the 1947 Texas City Disaster in Texas City, Texas, the company outfitted 58 mail order customers whose homes were destroyed in the resulting fire. [1]
Another concern was employee benefits. At a time when few companies offered anything more than wage, Lane Bryant offered profit sharing, pension, disability insurance, group life insurance plans, and medical benefits. By 1950, more than 3,500 employees participated in these pioneering concepts. Twenty-five percent of the stock issued when the company went public was reserved for employee subscription. [1]
In 1915, the first branch retail store opened in Chicago. After her death in 1951, Bryant's sons took over the business. In 1961, Lane Bryant acquired Town & Country, a Pennsylvania-based discount department store. [4] The Town & Country division was eliminated in 1977. [5]
The Lane Bryant operations were purchased in May 1982 by The Limited founder Leslie Wexner.
The catalog operations were licensed to Brylane (now Redcats) in 1993. The retail operations were sold to Charming Shoppes, another owner of plus-size clothing stores, in 1999 for $335 million (equivalent to $613 million in 2023). [6] Charming has since expanded the chain and introduced online and outlet sales. Lane Bryant's "sisters" include Fashion Bug and Catherines. In order to trade on the well-known Lane Bryant brand, Charming folded all of its store sites into the Lane Bryant domain; fashionbug.com and catherines.com redirect to fashionbug.lanebryant.com and catherines.lanebryant.com respectively. Today, Lane Bryant is a large retail chain, present in many shopping centers across the United States. In 2004, Lane Bryant opened a flagship store in New York near Fifth Avenue. [6] Charming Shoppes regained the license for the catalog operations in late October 2007. In June 2012, Ascena Retail Group, parent company of Dressbarn, purchased Charming Shoppes with a $900 million transaction through a combination of cash on hand and $325 million of borrowings from credit facilities. [7] [8] [9]
On July 23, 2020, the parent company of Lane Bryant and Ann Taylor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdowns as having “severely disrupted” its financial foundation. Stores with locations to be closed included Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lane Bryant and Lou & Grey stores, including all stores across brands in Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico, as well as all Catherine Stores and a “significant number” of Justice stores. [10] In December of the same year, Ascena Retail Group sold Lane Bryant, Ann Taylor and their related brands to Premium Apparel LLC, an affiliate of Sycamore Partners, for $540 million. [11]
In 2010, Lane Bryant accused Fox and ABC of censoring their 30-second ad spot during commercial breaks for Dancing with the Stars and American Idol . The ads featured plus-sized model Ashley Graham in their Cacique line of lingerie. Lane Bryant accused the networks of discrimination because they had no problem airing Victoria's Secret advertisements, with similarly clad models, in the same time slots. [12] [13]
In March 2016, Lane Bryant accused ABC and NBC of banning a 30-second lingerie ad featuring the tagline "This Body", which depicted mild nudity and breastfeeding. [14]
In 2013, Lane Bryant announced its first designer collaboration with designer Isabel Toledo and artist Ruben Toledo. [15] [16] [17] For Holiday 2013(December 2013), the duo produced a capsule collection with a logo tee and a tote bag featuring Ruben's sketches. [15] [16] [17] In March 2014, their first full collection for Spring 2014 was launched. [18] On March 20, 2014, a runway presentation was held in New York City, which was simulcast live online. [19] [20]
In March 2014, Lane Bryant announced their second designer collaboration with Sophie Theallet. [21] Theallet produced lingerie and sleepwear for Lane Bryant's lingerie brand Cacique, which was released in Fall 2014 (September 2014). [21]
Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its flagship stores, located in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Manila, and Mexico City.
A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician.
J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dresses, suiting, jewelry, and shoes.
Evans is a women's clothing retailer located in the United Kingdom and around the world. It sells plus-size clothing, lingerie, wide-fitting shoes, swimwear and accessories.
Plus-size clothing is clothing proportioned specifically for people above the average clothing size. The application of the term varies from country to country, and according to which industry the person is involved in.
Ann Inc. is an American group of specialty apparel retail chain stores for women. The company headquartered in New York City and currently operates as a subsidiary of Ascena Retail Group. The stores offer classic-styled suits, separates, dresses, shoes and accessories. The brand is marketed under five divisions: Ann Taylor, Loft, Lou & Grey, Ann Taylor Factory, and Loft Outlet.
A plus-size model is an individual size 12 and above who is engaged primarily in modeling plus-size clothing. Plus-size clothing worn by plus-size models is typically catering for and marketed to either big, tall or overweight men and women. Plus-size models also engage in work that is not strictly related to selling clothing, e.g., stock photography and advertising photography for cosmetics, household and pharmaceutical products and sunglasses, footwear and watches. Therefore, plus-size models do not exclusively wear garments marketed as plus-size clothing. This is especially true when participating in fashion editorials for mainstream fashion magazines.
Ascena Retail Group, Inc., is an American retailer of women's clothing. Ascena also owns Lane Bryant clothing store brand, and is the parent company of Ann Inc., operator of Ann Taylor and Loft stores.
Charming Shoppes is a specialty and plus size clothing retail holding company based in Bensalem, Pennsylvania; a suburb of Philadelphia. Its subsidiaries include Lane Bryant, Cacique, Fashion Bug, and Catherines Plus. Clothes were sold from over 2300 retail stores in the United States, as well as numerous catalogs and online sites. In 2012, the company and assets were acquired by Ascena Retail Group.
Penningtons is a Canadian fashion retail store that specializes in plus-size womens' clothing, with locations across Canada in all ten provinces.
Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin was an American clothing designer and retailer who founded the plus-size clothing chain Lane Bryant. Despite difficult circumstances, she saw a need and came up with a solution that revolutionized the women's fashion industry.
Deb Shops, Inc. was a specialty retail chain store and catalog in the United States, selling women's clothing and accessories under its own private labels, as well as other labels, then exclusively an online retailer. The company was based in Philadelphia and principally served junior and plus-sized women in their early teens through their late twenties. At its peak Deb Shops operated 337 stores across 42 states. Following two bankruptcies in 2015, it became an exclusively plus-size online store.
Maurices Inc., stylized as maurices, is an American women's clothing retail chain based in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1931 in Duluth, the chain comprises more than 1,000 stores in the United States and Canada, primarily located in shopping malls and smaller towns.
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner in 1982. Wexner rapidly expanded into American shopping malls, growing the company into 350 stores nationally with sales of $1 billion by the early 1990s, when Victoria's Secret became the largest lingerie retailer in the United States.
Fashion To Figure is a United States retailer focusing on plus-size clothing and related accessories. In November 2017, its parent company, B. Lane Inc., filed for bankruptcy.
OpCapita is a British private equity firm specialising in the retail, consumer and leisure industries. The firm invests in underperforming businesses that require operational support to improve profitability and create long-term, sustainable value. OpCapita was established in 2006, by American financier Henry Jackson.
Dressbarn is an online retailer which specializes in women's casual dresses, leisure wear, accessories, and workwear. Dressbarn began with operating retail stores between the early 1960s and late 2010s. In 2020, it became a brand owned by the private equity firm Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV).
Adore Me is a direct-to-consumer women's intimate apparel brand based in New York City. The company was started by Morgan Hermand-Waiche in 2010 while he was an MBA student at Harvard Business School and is a Certified B Corporation.
Limited Too was a clothing and lifestyle retailer, and current brand, targeting the tween girl market, formerly owned by Tween Brands, Inc.. Since 2015, the brand has been owned by Bluestar Alliance, LLC, having lain dormant for six years after the store bearing its name converted to Justice.
Retail Apparel Group is an Australian and New Zealand clothing retail company, wholly owned by the Foschini Group. The company operates stores under the Tarocash, Connor, yd., Johnny Bigg, Rockwear and AXL+Co brands.