From small town Ontario to New York City, in this episode we meet Lauren Chan, founder and president of women’s wear retailer Henning. A former fashion editor, Ford model and now steward of a popular retail brand that is dialled in with a personal and professional connection. Lauren talks about building a collection of luxury plus-size staples without compromises on quality, craftsmanship, or design.
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
From small town Ontario to New York City, in this episode we meet Lauren Chan, founder and president of women’s wear retailer Henning. A former fashion editor, Ford model and now steward of a popular retail brand that is dialled in with a personal and professional connection. Lauren talks about building a collection of luxury plus-size staples without compromises on quality, craftsmanship, or design.
Let’s listen in
********
Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
Michael LeBlanc
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada. From the streets of small town Ontario to New York City. In this episode, we meet Lauren Chan Founder and President of women's wear retailer, Henning. A former fashion editor, Ford model and now steward of a popular retail brand that is dialed in with a personal, professional connection. Lauren talks about building a collection of luxury plus sized staples without compromising quality, craftsmanship, or design.
Lauren Chan
I think the number one thing that we think of when we think about brand is, is humanity and transparency and authenticity. And, of course, Red Antler built the brand, and we're so grateful. And they did an absolutely incredible job, in my book. And when we were working together, the one thing that I was insisting on having as a thru line was a very real human touch. And there are ways that Red Antler, is so talented that, they have they have translated that in tangibly in a way that myself is not a branding expert almost can't even explain.
Michael LeBlanc
Let's listen in now. Lauren, welcome to The Voice Retail podcast. How are you doing this afternoon?
Lauren Chan
I'm good. Thank you so much for having me.
Michael LeBlanc
Well, it's a real treat, because I was just saying off mic that I'd seen you on a, on an interview with Emily Hayward. And I said, "What a great story. I want to talk to that person". And then lo and behold, you turn out to be Canadian. And when I look you up what a Canadian. You’re a Chatelain, Woman of the Year in 2019. You get such a great back story, I had no idea. I was, I was getting such a great story when I thought I wanted to hear your retail story. So it's a real pleasure to,
Lauren Chan
Oh, thanks so much.
Michael LeBlanc
chat with you
Lauren Chan
The best ones are always Canadian, you know?
Michael LeBlanc
Well, I think we can 100% agree on that.
Lauren Chan
We're biased.
Michael LeBlanc
A little bit, just a little bit. Well, listen, tell us. For the listeners who may not know of you, as I've come to, come to read about you tell us about yourself, your journey. It's small town, Canada, the home of Wayne Gretzky, right, Bradford, Ontario. All the way to the streets of New York City. So tell us about your, your interesting journey and all the way up to be, to being a retailer. So, take us take us up to that point.
Lauren Chan
I'll give you the, the hopefully abridged version, which is that yes, I am from Brantford, Ontario. I went to school in London, Ontario at the University of Western. And when I graduated, I wanted to be a fashion editor. And, I naively applied for a bunch of jobs. And everyone said, Well, you know, you need a visa and you don't have any unique enough skills as a, as a 21 year old for us to be able to sponsor you. And I did some kind of backwards thinking and thought that if I needed a job skill that was so unique that the company could, you know, justify outsourcing that job to a non American, what could possibly fill that prerequisite? And I thought, well, maybe if I tried to go to a modeling agency, and my job skills, what I look like, then, you know, technically, I think they'd have a pretty hard time finding someone who looked exactly like me. And so I went to the plus size open call for Ford Models, and got signed, got my visa, moved here and kind of moonlighted as a plus size model. All the while, I very much wanted to be an editor still. And I was freelance writing and interning and going on job interviews and going to workshops and panels and basically trying to really shove my way into the magazine industry.
Michael LeBlanc
Where it's so funny because many, many would aspire to be a model and you aspire to as a means to an end, which was you know, pursuing your passion to write about fashion so interesting.
Lauren Chan
Yeah, I mean, I, it's, it's, it's interesting, it's, it's an,
Michael LeBlanc
It became a thing on its own, though, right? And
Lauren Chan
It did, and I can't, it's hard to find the words and reflect on it because I have felt so many different things about that part of my journey. At first, I was ashamed to say it because of the way that someone would look at you and assume that you had you know, no brains in your head. And it used to detract from what I was trying to do with my career and what I was trying to say, as as a writer and a journalist.And then it kind of, to my to my next little chapter of my story, it ended up informing my my written work so much that I then had a lot of respect for what I was doing and the other people who did it and and now it's kind of all meshed together in this company. But, now I'm talking in not chronological tangents. So, after I had gotten here, and was, you know, moonlighting and trying to become an editor. I did that for about two years and had gotten so many interviews that at first, they would just say, "Oh, you need a visa. Okay, we'll walk you out". And then I kind of learned to leave that part out until the final interview.
Michael LeBlanc
You have a visa, right? What is this visa you speak of? No, actually, I could use one of those. Yeah, that's,
Lauren Chan
And that didn't work either. And I was about to turn around and go home to Toronto. And that's when I got my first job offer, with a visa, from Condé Nast. And I ended up being the fashion features editor at Glamour for a few years. That's when I started writing about plus sized fashion on a national scale. Glamour, I think, at the time was reaching one in eight American women. And so it was a perfect outlet to bring that, that desire to be in the, in the magazine, high fashion industry with the experience that I had in the more catalogue plus sized industry together. And at the time, this was you know, almost 10 years ago, body positivity, and plus size fashion weren't in the zeitgeist. There,
Michael LeBlanc
Yeah it was still a ways off, right.
Lauren Chan
Right now, it's so wonderful that it's kind of everywhere you turn. But at the time, it was unique. And so that really allowed me to really quickly. And so, I was almost a brand new editor with a monthly print column, with a digital vertical dedicated to size. We designed 10 collections with a Glamour, Lane, Bryant clothing partnership through the advertising department of Glamour. We helped a few designers launch plus sizes. And it really felt like I had done, you know, two decades of work in five years at the magazine. And so, when the time came that I wasn't growing anymore, and I kind of had said all I was going to say and I had a few promotions under my belt, I started thinking about what I wanted to do next. At the time, I was 27, and I remember thinking, "Gosh, I have my dream job I've, I've done so much of my, of my work bucket list, I still got a ways to go. What the heck else am I gonna do?"
Michael LeBlanc
Interesting.
Lauren Chan
And so that's when I decided to leave and start my own business, Henning. Which is luxury plus size women's wear. We're made in New York, by a team of plus sized people. And we've been in business for about two years now.
Michael LeBlanc
Well, it's so interesting because you bring even in your writing, not even in your writing, when you're writing, I can see you bring the tradecraft of being a model. So actually, having to wear and showcase in the best possible light the fashions at the same time, bring that to design, now you bring that, bring that to retail. So let's talk a little bit about Henning, you've given us the kind of the top line, how do you go to market, basically? Two years old, so where do you, how do you sell? And where do you sell? And just give us a kind of a nuts, nuts and bolts kind of understanding of Henning to start with anyway.
Lauren Chan
Sure. I think that the difficulty in, well, I guess I should say I guess that the, I think that the lack of plus size clothing offerings has so much to do with botched go to market strategies. And so, we have seen, as a reporter, I have seen many brands launch plus sizes not marketed well, not launch it well. And of course, the sales reflects that, and then they shutter. You know,
Michael LeBlanc
Unpack that a little bit for me. When you say don't launch it well, what, what did you think was missing?Which one sure piece was absent?
I think to fully understand the critiques of other brands that have botched plus size launches, we have to look at the teams that work on on these projects. And we have to look at who fashion has historically employed and that's one of my pride points when I, when I kind of give my two liner about Henning is made by a team of plus size people. As a plus size consumer, and remember, this is an emotional consumer it's someone who's been excluded on purpose and marginalized due to their size, we can tell when a non plus size person has made a product because say the fit is off, the materials crappy, the cuts not flattering, the styles not cool. We can tell when the marketing is not done by plus sized people because of the language. Often plus size copy is very trite and very old school and very rule based, you know. I'm sure you can conjure up some examples in your own mind like "Don't wear stripes" or "Flatter your curves".
Michael LeBlanc
Yeah, yeah
Lauren Chan
The list goes on. And,
Michael LeBlanc
So, it lacks that kind of authenticity that resonates or doesn't resonate and kind of rings the bell really loud for,
Lauren Chan
Sure, and that is coupled with a customer who has always desired to be treated like everyone else and has never really received that from a brand. Of course, there are a few good examples. But by and large, the examples are not good. And so, we really, really, really focused on transparency to use your word authenticity, I say humanity, the brand is very human, very personal. We focused on community building before we even launched product. So six months ahead of our product launch, we launched all of our social and email programs, as well as a private Facebook group. And had in person focus groups in New York City. And, the purpose of that was to get to know our customer before we spent money making product. But also, to gain that trust, that two way street of conversation before we were shilling product, before we were cheapening our conversations with "and buy the shirt", you know.
Michael LeBlanc
Or whatever. Yeah, interesting build, build a community first learn from them, and also build the community.
Lauren Chan
Now our strategy is, is still largely social. We really do not spend a lot of money in, in blind advertising, even social advertising. Before COVID, we were largely, you know, events, private events, private showroom, appointment based, as well. And, I do a lot of marketing for the brand on my personal social channels. So there's some crossover there as well.
Michael LeBlanc
And so, so you've got a great, basically your an online e-commerce retailer today. But but if you had your druthers, so to speak, you'd be doing these kind of capsule showcases, pop-ups or whatever. Do you, do you ever aspire to have a store, a physical store that is like a permanent location? Is that is that in the roadmap for you? Do you aspire to that? Or are you beyond that? Or is it too far ahead? You know, where do you sit on that?
Lauren Chan
I'm not very keen to do that, to be honest. What we had in the plans, and what hopefully will reemerge, is to go and have pop-ups either with a retail partner or on our own, in our top markets across the country and in Toronto.
Michael LeBlanc
Right, right on. Okay, well, let's use it, you've seen a lot of parts of the, of the industry more than the average person, or more than the average retailer. So tell us when you got into this retail game, what three lessons did you did you learn that you, that you'd share? I mean, and did anything surprise you? I mean, you've gone from media to retail. And while they're close cousins, it's a very different world. So what, what's been your experience?
Lauren Chan
Well, there, there are so many lessons. three is
Michael LeBlanc
Three, I am limiting you to three.
Lauren Chan
But I think that the biggest thing to the latter part of your question that surprised me, based on my previous experience, as both a model and an editor, was how I was surprised at how little press, and social, and great models, and brand converts to sales. And I thought that there would be a clear line between the two. And, in fact, at least for us, there has not been. And, if I look back on my experience, I guess it shouldn't have surprised me so much. But for example, at the magazine, the editorial team sat on one floor and the advertising team sat on another. And that's just how the editorial world here is structured. You,
Michael LeBlanc
Have the church and state right, yeah, you keep the two apart.
Lauren Chan
You allow your, your creative people to have their own bubble, and then the advertising team takes what we make, of course, based on their, first they give us an outline, but then they take what we make uninterfered and turn around and sell it. The same kind of compartmentalization happens with modeling. You are on set and you help bring that image in that garment to life and sell it in so far as, like I said, that image but then you don't even have a line of contact with the, with that client.I guess I just was filling in the gaps in my own mind. And now that I'm in control of, as you say, church and state. making those two things work really, really well together was a surprise, it was it was a challenge for sure. And some of it to me is still nonsensical, you know, we'll have a great day in sales and I'll, I'll go track down where it came from. And I'll go "Huh, okay"
Michael LeBlanc
Okay
Lauren Chan
And sometimes I'm like, getting ready to see a bunch of orders because something because we dress a celebrity that I think will sell well. Because we've got a great press piece coming out, or what have you. And I'll sat there going, "Did they all go to my junk mail? Like Where are they?"
Michael LeBlanc
It's a funny thing, right? I mean, I have a somewhat similar experience when I think about audience, certain listeners, on the podcast sometimes when I think this is a great guest, it was a fantastic interview, it's gonna blow up. And it doesn't. And on the one hand, not enough people are hearing it. Sometimes on the other hand, I think people are hearing too much from certain individuals, so they're already out there. So it's just another thing, notwithstanding the quality of the actual interaction. Like it's so complex, right? It's not linear in any way.
Lauren Chan
So complex, and one of my friends who has a brand here told me, you know, now she's 10 years in, she figured out a cheat code. You know, like a video game cheat code where you gotta press all these buttons at once and, up, down, up, down, AV AV. That for her, if she and now I'm not remembering exactly, but if she posts on her own social launches a new product as a VIP, segmented email, yada, yada, get all these things in a day,
Michael LeBlanc
Pats her head, rubs your tummy, left, right.
Lauren Chan
Exactly, then it's a smash hit. And so, you know, a year and a half into business. And that is said, with a caveat of having COVID smack in the middle of that, we are still in the process of figuring our cheat code out.
Michael LeBlanc
Right on interesting. Well, let's talk about the product for a bit. And let's zoom in on that, because you're clearly quite, quite passionate about it. But where do you take your inspiration from, you know, in terms of silhouette? And in terms of, you know, and I talked to some fashion retailers or fashion houses, they say, "Well, I take inspiration from Europe, and I bring it to Canada or North America, or I take it from the west and I bring it here". Do you, know when you look at a blank page, and in your mind, you're saying what is the next collection look like? Broadly speaking, where do you take where do you take your inspiration from?
Lauren Chan
I don't call myself a designer for this reason, because many of my designer colleagues would, would absolutely slap me upside the head. I'm not a trained designer. I do not make the clothes myself. And I think that label is also apparent in the way that real designers talk about inspiration. You know, I have interviewed many a designer who has said something to the effect of "Well, I was in Bali and I saw this bird and I thought the feathers were so beautiful, in the in the oil slick coloring, and I just had to make a collection of dresses like that". And that's not how my brain works. I wish it did. It sounds fantastical and romantic.
Michael LeBlanc
Yeah, its wonderful, yeah. We'll be right back. The COVID 19 pandemic has accelerated the need for businesses to undergo a digital transformation. Through the Toronto's Regional Board of Trades Recovery Activation Program, otherwise known as a RAP. You can now immerse yourself in online sessions, workshops and one on one mentorships with industry experts to learn how your businesses can get ahead through digital solutions. Whether your business is having difficulty connecting with customers is struggling to manage increasing demand. RAP offers practical support and advice at no cost.Helping your business build back stronger and smarter. Wondering how you can get started. Well, your business is RAP journey begins with digital needs assessment or an DNA. The DNA takes less than 30 minutes to complete and offers an assessment of your business's current digital maturity, benchmarked against companies of similar size from related sectors from around the country. Based on your results RAP's team of industry experts will contact you to discuss which programs will be most useful and helping you take the next step in your digital transformation. From helping you build your personalized digital transformation blueprint tailored and outcome driven modules based on cybersecurity and digital marketing tools, there's a RAP program to support you and your business. In under a year, RAP will have analyzed more than 1000 Ontario businesses, hosted more than 4000 virtual event attendees and maintain 100% overall participation satisfaction. Remember, there's no cost to participate. So to ensure your business is ready to capitalize on those exciting opportunities, predictive growth. Take your digital needs assessment today at rap.bot.com. That's rap.bot.com.
Lauren Chan
I am very practical. And I think about what I'm missing and what I wish I had. And my style is very simple and practical. I wear a lot of timeless pieces. I like to shop sustainably in the way that I don't purchase trend. I purchase things that I would like to have forever. And so I make things that I would like people to have forever. And I think that that perhaps is a little bit informed by my being a plus size consumer and by way of what I have been offered in the past how much my brain subconsciously, or by itself, like dreams about fashion. Perhaps I don't have that ability to look at a bird and dream up a dress because it's not a level of design that I had, have been able to participate in. It also could be that because we're just missing things like classic suits and coats, that that's like the first step and the most necessary thing. And then therefore, like I said the most practical thing to make. I will say that a lot of our design inspiration is as you call that silhouettes. The silhouettes are borrowed from men's wear. And that's because a lot of plus size suiting is bizarre colors and thin material and has a weird ruch in the elbow for no reason, or the lapels are super skinny and the hems are rounded. And I have always worn vintage designer men's wear, because I like the strong shoulder. I like the double vent. I like the extra fusible behind the material that keeps its shape nice and sharp. I like the functional cuffs, all these things that plus size women in suiting are not always offered. And so, I will say that our inspiration does tilt towards men's wear.
Michael LeBlanc
You know, it sounds to me like you look, that old saying you can't always articulate the silhouette or the design or the fashion the way you describe you know that seeing a bird in Bali. But you know, when you see it. Is that a fair statement? Like when when something's presented to you, you have the sense of that's going to work.That's what I'm looking for. So is that fair?
Lauren Chan
Yeah, I think that all the while, you know, as I go down talk myself for not being a designer. I think that there is a very valuable intangible skill in having a good eye and being a good stylist and a good creative director.
Michael LeBlanc
Well, even in the way you're describing, you know, some pretty, some pretty clear points of the fabric. It's clear, you've got that, "I know when I see it", kind of inspiration, but at the same time, there's people who are who their lives are part of that right there. They just they just thrive on that kind of stuff. Let's let's talk about how you're I was looking through your website and and when you brief your your photographers, how do you brief them about the best way to showcase? To me the that it looked like it had a very specific attitude, I could say. And how you stylized and how the models looked. Is, when you're briefing your photographers, what do you what do you say? What do you want out of them? What do you want out, what brings the best out of your product?
Lauren Chan
Well, I think that for Henning, with our imagery, it's very important for me to show plus size women in a very refined, elevated, chic, high fashion light. And we as plus size models, and people and consumers are very often not seen that way. In fact, I can't think of another brand who has imagery, like ours. And, if you think about plus size clothing brands, I'm sure we can all conjure the image of the plus size ideal which is you know, right brightly lit with rosy cheeks and a pink lip and some soft waves and a big smile, you know, and then the patterned mumu on and for us
Michael LeBlanc
I'm seeing less of that on your site.
Lauren Chan
Oh yes, it,
Michael LeBlanc
I love your site, by the way,
Lauren Chan
Thank you.
Michael LeBlanc
I love your site, I love it.
Lauren Chan
We're the to that. This is to that because, when if all plus size brands show that that kind of imagery that really what we're telling, plus sized women is there's one way to be acceptably plus size. You know, you've got to be bright eyed and bushy tailed with with rosy cheeks and, and you know, very palatable and commercial and typical. And so, all the while, in high fashion what's, what's in at the moment is less makeup, less, less cheer a little bit more refinements. It's a quieter kind of beauty and, and styling as well. And so it's really important to us to show plus size women in different ways, and show our consumers that they can exist in more than one way and that they can be the kind of person who is more quietly comfortable with themselves. And, and just kind of appears as they are. And so, to answer your question, the direction that we give our photographer is natural light, our hair and makeup gets a natural hair and makeup inspiration. The models are encouraged to do what they need to do to feel powerful. And
Michael LeBlanc
I was gonna say confidence. The word, the word that came into my mind is very confident. Like there's, when I look at many of the shots, it's it's I'm looking, your models are looking right into the camera. Very confident, very assured, and all those great things.
Lauren Chan
Well, thanks. that's a that's a that's a nice compliment. I think so too. And and I adore all the women that we shoot. So
Michael LeBlanc
Let's talk about brand. So I as I said, I came to know about you through Emily Hayward, who's, who's a brand God or Guru. She's got a great book and, how do you how do you think about brand? Like what, what in your mind, you've already articulated a bunch in the great community, the online community, the connection to your customers that, is that in your mind what will help create sustainable brand advantage, or a sustainable brand to begin with at Henning?
Lauren Chan
I think that the number one thing that we think of when we think about brand is, is humanity and transparency and authenticity. And of course Red Antler built the brand and we're so grateful. And they did an absolutely incredible job, in my book. And when we were working together, the one thing that I was insisting on having as a through line was a very real human touch. And there are ways that, Red Antler, are so talented that they have they have translated that intangibly in a way that myself as not a branding expert, almost can't even explain. But the way that I, that my team has carried it on, and made sure to honor Red Antler's work, was to be as as transparent as possible. And so, over the past year, that has served us very well. You know, we, we have had honest chats and newsletters and emails and open forums with our customers about COVID, about the movement for Black Lives about sustainability, about shipping delays, about manufacturing challenges weren't going to make going forward and the list goes on. And I think that many brands, because, because the way the brands were built, didn't allow for that, that humanity and that, that almost kind of admission of imperfection, that they couldn't then, you know, have a conversation about how COVID was affecting the business and what what grace they needed from their consumers and how those consumers could, instead of shopping that month, go learn about black history and donate to black movements. And those were the two things that were most important for us to be talking about when it came to brand last year.
Michael LeBlanc
Last question for you, you know, as you think about the consumer, you know, in the COVID era, how are you thinking about post COVID, post vaccine shopper? How do you think she's going to change if at all, how that she approaches buying or shopping? And any any insights in that from all this great feedback and communication loop that you've put in, any, any sense of that?
Lauren Chan
I think that she's definitely going to want less formal ware. And so right now we're working on some knitwear and some work wear, or work from home wear, I should say with more elastane in it. I think that she's still going to be shopping, we've we've still been selling really well. And in fact, our best month last year was last April, so a month into the pandemic. And I think that all the things that, like I was saying, Red Antler and I built into the brand, like customer education on sustainability, and better materials, and having things made locally, will serve us because the one big thing I think will change is that customers will care much more about who makes their product and where it comes from and where it goes, if it doesn't sell and how it's going to last over years and years, etc, etc. So I'm very grateful that we had the sense to build that into the brand from day one and into the customer communication from day one. And so we have just leaned more into that and and for example, you know, now if a customer wants to return something, first, we offer tailoring credit, because we want to have more service to them, have more incentive for them to shop with us and and to keep their peace and love it and not instead turn around and go buy from a fast fashion brand that makes something that looks kind of similar but won't have that level of quality and then human care on the back end of that purchase.
Michael LeBlanc
So more conscious consumerism it sounds like what you're what you're thinking about it. Like shopping with a purpose, not exactly with a purpose, but more thoughtful about it. Interesting. All right, what's what's next? It's a funny question to ask you because you're a year and a half. And, you know, they started the business in the COVID era. I mean, what's next, but as we've talked about, you're going to stay go back to doing pop-ups and in person. But as you think about the brand, what's next?
Lauren Chan
Well, we're going to start loungewear this year for the first time, which was not an initial plan is we started with you know, suiting and outerwear,
Michael LeBlanc
Right
Lauren Chan
So that's on the on the product front. And the manufacturing front, we're changing the business to an on-demand manufacturing model. So, in lieu of producing collections and selling it to buyers and making those orders, or producing an entire collection for our site and just selling against that inventory. orders will now be made 72 hours, made and shipped, I should say within 72 hours of a single customer order. So that's a move to turn fast fashion on its head and increase sustainability, improve our cash flow, get more agile with product market fit, and support local makers and that you know, just staying with our ears to the ground on what will happen with COVID and retail and getting back out there in terms of physical shopping because that was something we were really, really excited about before this all hit. And so I do think will still happen but right now focused on new products for this era and a better manufacturing model.
Michael LeBlanc
Well, it's been such a treat to hear more about your journey and talk about with you. I wish you much continued success and listen it's been great chatting with you. And thanks again for making the time to be on The Voice Retail.
Lauren Chan
Thank you so much, Michael.
Michael LeBlanc
Thanks for tuning into today's episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss out on the latest episodes, industry news and insights. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review as it really helps us grow so that we continue to get amazing guests onto the show. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc Company Inc. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn. Visit my website at meleblanc.co. Until next time, stay safe and have a great week.