Written by Lane Bryant, Inc. is a pioneering retail women’s clothing enterprise in the United States established by Lena Himmelstein, a skilled seamstress from Lithuania who migrated to New York City in 1895. Before the age of 20 she 
married to a Jewish immigrant jeweler from Russia named David Bryant. Widowed at a young age after their son Raphael was born, she had to go back to dressmaking in their small apartment. She succeeded in her dressmaking business so she decided to borrow $300 from her brother-in-law for a working capital, and rented in 1904 a small space for her shop and at the same time their living quarter in its back portion. When she opened a bank account, the bank officer misspelled her name on the application as “Lane” instead of Lena. This was how Lane Bryant, Inc. came to be in 1904, the ageless and timeless favorite brand in women’s plus size clothing.
Lane Bryant was a more advanced designer of her time. In the midst of her difficult personal circumstances, she employed her innovative prowess that revolutionized the women’s fashion industry. Lena’s shop began with innovative maternity dresses as its first clothing line. Historical account says that during her time, respectable pregnant women seldom go out in public. At the request of one of her pregnant customers to design something “presentable but comfortable” public wear, she created a dress with an elasticized waistband and an accordion-pleated skirt. Thus, Lane Bryant fashioned the first known commercial maternity dress, which became popular to middle-class women as well as women who needed to work, and eventually became the best-seller in Lena’s shop.
In 1909, Lane Bryant married Albert Malsin who became her business partner. Albert Malsin focused on the firm’s business operation while Lane Bryant Malsin continued as chief designer. By 1910 Lane Bryant’s shop was earning $50,000 gross per year. Despite this potential, Lane Bryant’s shop had to face some limitations, and overcome some challenges like newspaper discrimination. Not one from New York’s newspapers would accept advertising for maternity clothes because such topics were a taboo in the press. It was only in 1911 when Malsin successfully persuaded the New York Herald to accept an advertisement on maternity clothing. The day after the paper came out with the ad, all the stock at Lane Bryant’s store was sold out.
Limited by newspaper discrimination, the Malsins came up with a marketing strategy by creating the first mail order catalog for maternity clothing. Such marketing strategy was very effective because by 1917, Lane Bryant earned an income amounting to more than a million dollars from mail order sales alone. By 1950 Lane Bryant became the sixth-largest mail order retailer in the United States.
Motivated by her success in maternity clothing line and catalog sales, Lane Bryant Malsin pioneered her next great innovation, the ready-made clothing for full figured women. Lena had a good sense of business forecasting. She realized just before World War I that there was no mass manufacturers of plus size clothing. Determined to fulfill this market need, she did a statistical analysis out of the 4,500 women that she had measured in her store and additional 200,000 other women. From this statistical analysis, she realized that there were three general types of full figured women, and she designed clothes to fit each type.
The first branch retail store of Lane Bryant was opened in 1915 in Chicago. By 1923, the company sales rose to five million dollars. Again her full figured clothing line was a great success because it exceeded the sales of her maternity clothing line. By 1969, the chain had increased to more than 100 stores, all with a total sales of $200 million.
Lane Bryant, Inc. was not only focused on the business operations, it also showed concern for its customers. The company pioneered in customer relations and corporate philanthropy. It coordinated with the Red Cross to replace any Lane Bryant’s customer’s wardrobe destroyed in a disaster. Also, in 1947, the company provided clothes for 59 mail order customers with houses destroyed in a Texas City major explosion and fire disaster. Lane Bryant stores have served as clothing donation centers to benefit displaced persons in Europe as a result of World War II.
Another company’s concern was its employees’ welfare. By 1950, Lane Bryant, Inc. extended to its more than 3,500 employees profit sharing, pension, disability, group life insurance plans, and medical benefits. This was during the time when few companies (particularly in retail sector) provided benefits to their employees other than wages. When the company went public, 25% of the stocks were reserved for employees’ subscription.
The business was taken over by the sons of Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin when she died in 1951. Several years after, Lane Bryant’s operations were sold to The Limited, founded by Leslie Wexner, while the catalog operations was licensed to Brylane (now Redcats).
Again in 2001 the retail operations of Lane Bryant were sold to Charming Shoppes, Inc., a specialty apparel retailer in the United States. Since then, Charming Shoppes has increased Lane Bryant’s number of retail chain, and instituted the online sales in addition to its outlet sales. Eventually, the license for catalogue operations was transferred to Charming Shoppes in 2007. Today Lane Bryant is a division of Charming Shoppes, Inc. together with its sister stores such as Fashion Bug and Catherines Plus Sizes. It is currently operating as a large retail chain with more than 850 full-line and outlet stores located in many shopping centers across the United States. The e-commerce website lanebryant.com was launched in 2003 fulfilling the needs of millions of online plus shoppers not just in the entire USA, but also in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lane Bryant’s millions and millions of customers (both outlet stores customers and online customers) is a strong indication of brand loyalty from fashion conscious, fashion-loving customers.
“Emphasizing on fashion, not on size” is the formula that makes Lane Bryant the leading shopping destination in the category of women’s plus size clothing up to this present time. Their target customers are plus size women 35-55 sizes 14-28. Lane Bryant’s well known brand of intimates, the Cacique is designed for women’s sizes 12-32 and bra sizes 36-48C-H. Lane Bryant takes pride in helping out curvaceous women feel more feminine, confident and proud in every situation. If you will log on to lanebryant.com you will find out chic, up-to-date stylish collection of various types of women’s plus size apparel and accessories, from comfortable wear to fashion-forward wear-to-work outfits.
Being “up-to-date and fashion-focus” keeps Lane Bryant, Inc. to be on top in the plus industry, and even outside of the plus size category. It remains to be the most recognized premier brand in specialty plus size clothing. It is hoped that the successors of Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin will be able to preserve (even in the many generations to come) the goodwill and legacy that she had built for Lane Bryant, Inc. and for the plus industry for more than a century.
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