It’s barely a few months old, but e-commerce site 11 Honoré is already changing the game. Launched this fall by fashion industry veterans Patrick Herning and Kathryn Retzer, the platform offers luxury and designer contemporary clothing in sizes 10-20. (Because, women of all sizes like nice things.) With lust-worthy labels like Brandon Maxwell, Prabal Gurung, Monique Lhuillier, and Zac Posen, 11 Honoré is aiming to elevate the extended size arena — and the fashion industry as a whole. We sat down with the founders to hear more.
Brit + Co: What was the inspiration behind starting this site?
Kathryn Retzer: We have been friends for 15 years and knew that we were ready to take the next step in our careers to start something together. We both know women in our lives who are luxury customers and struggled to find beautiful clothing in their sizes. We realized that no one was serving her, and based on our combined experience of four decades in fashion, we decided to disrupt the way that fashion approaches our customer and provide her with the most diverse and stylish options out there. Additionally, both of our mothers are the 11 Honoré customer and have struggled to find luxury options in their sizes. Working in the industry, it was difficult for us to see that designers and retailers were not addressing them.
B+C: Are these designers that already produced extended size ranges or are they exclusive to 11 Honoré?
Patrick Herning: We were happy to find an amazing group of designers that are as excited as we are to be part of this platform. Many of them have been dressing this customer through private orders and trunk shows and were well versed in the best looks to offer her. We worked hand in hand to curate a beautiful selection of runway looks from each of the designers we are launching with.
We are also supporting younger brands who want to be size inclusive but don’t have the infrastructure by providing pattern makers, graders, and fit models. While we’re still buying styles from the runway, they are exclusive to 11 Honoré in sizes 10-20.
B+C: It feels like it took a long time for the fashion industry to come around to size inclusivity. Why do you think that is?
PH: From our experience, the designers were excited to come on board, and we’re thrilled to be the first retailer to offer runway fashion in sizes 10-20. People like Prabal Gurung have been designing up to size 22 for years, but we are just bringing them the retail platform to reach a larger audience.
B+C: What is your ultimate goal for the platform?
KR: We want to lead the movement in pushing the fashion industry toward inclusivity and diversity. 11 Honoré is building a community that is reflective of our customer and we believe that every woman deserves access to great fashion and an extraordinary shopping experience. We want to change the luxury fashion conversation to be more inclusive, elevated, and thoughtful.
B+C: You’ve got a killer roster of brands already. Any designers on your extended size wish list that don’t do it yet?
KR: Absolutely! We were fortunate to start with an amazing curated group of designers at launch but we are excited to grow and to continue to bring more on board as part of this movement. We want to offer our customer everything from luxury European designers like Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana to Proenza Schouler to contemporary designers like Rag & Bone so that she knows she will always find something when she visits the site.
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(Photos via 11 Honoré)
