This presentation focuses on the early 20th century fashion entrepreneur Lena Himmelstein, the founder of Lane Bryant (maternity and plus-size apparel) – a brand that still exists today. Himmelstein was an innovative business woman who built a fashion empire while instituting social responsibility practices in her business, reflecting a commitment to her community, employees, and customers.
Lena Himmelstein (1879-1951) arrived in New York in 1895 from her native Lithuania. She supported herself by working as a seamstress, and by 1904 opened her own women’s clothing shop, called Lane Bryant. When one of her pregnant customers asked her to design something presentable to wear in public, Himmelstein created a dress with an elasticized waistband and an accordion-pleated skirt—the first known commercial maternity dress. The garment liberated the increasing number of middle-class women who wanted to break with Victorian tradition and soon became the best-selling item for Lane Bryant.
The brand’s focus on maternity apparel eventually shifted to ready-made clothing for plus-sized women who at the time, were referred to as “stout.” Before World War I, no mass manufacturer of women’s clothing addressed this market, and, by 1923, Lane Bryant sales had reached five million dollars - outstripping sales of maternity wear. By 1969, more than 100 stores had combined sales of $200 million.
In addition to innovative marketing, Himmelstein was a pioneer in terms of employee relations and customer focus. Prior to her death, the company’s 3,500 employees participated in a profit-sharing plan and a pension plan that included protection against permanent disability, free hospitalization, group life insurance, and sickness insurance. This was at a time when neither plan was a common practice, particularly in the fashion industry.