The brands have struggled to become a fashion source for women who wear clothes beyond size 12. Now, two retailers that have built the plus-size category with big-name brands are merging, becoming a one-stop shop.
On Wednesday, 7-year-old plus-size fashion e-tailer Dia & Co. announced the acquisition of its luxury fashion-focused counterpart, 11 Honoré. Both companies declined to share financial details of the deal.
“We have always believed that plus is a team sport,” Nadia Boujarwah, co-founder and CEO of Dia & Co., told Glossy. “The experience we are designing for our client, one where they have the ability to shop without limitations of style or brand, it has never existed before and it takes an association to build it.”
According to Patrick Herning, founder of 11 Honoré, “[Boujarwah’s] The experience in the category together with the positioning of our brand is a perfect combination. We are prepared to be ‘the’ destination to serve this client, serving her comprehensively, from t-shirts to Carolina Herrera. That mitigates all frustration, all friction, all challenges. [for our customer].”
Both companies have remained strictly focused on catering to underserved women, with Dia & Co. specializing in sizes 10-32 and 11 Honoré offering sizes 12-24. That’s how retailers and brands, including Nordstrom and Universal Standard, have prioritized providing the same shopping experience to women of all sizes, rejecting the old setup of a separate plus-size department.
According to Dia & Co.’s March 2021 State of Inclusive Fashion Report, 100 million American women, or 67% of the female population, wear a size 14 or larger. At the same time, in 2020, sales of styles in sizes 14 and up represented just 13% of the womenswear market.
Personal style has been at the core of Dia & Co’s business model since Boujarwah and Lydia Gilbert launched the company. In addition to functioning like a typical e-commerce site, allowing shoppers to add items to the cart independently, it offers unique curated style checkouts and a checkout subscription based on a style quiz. His marketplace sells styles by mass brands and DTCs, including Madewell, ThirdLove, and Eloquii.
Launched in 2017 by marketing agency veteran Herning, 11 Honoré came to market with a mission to co-develop and sell plus-size designer fashion amid rampant sizeism in the industry. Their assortment currently includes styles from Diane von Furstenberg and Tanya Taylor, among other high-end brands. Model Candice Huffine is an investor.
Effective immediately, 11 Honoré’s private label, 11 Honoré Collection, will be available to purchase on Dia.com, while continuing to sell on 11 Honoré’s e-commerce site. 11 Honoré’s full product catalog and online presence will be integrated into Dia & Co. in the coming months.
According to Herning, the 11 Honoré Collection, developed in 2019 and focused on affordable staples, has had “everything to do with” 11 Honoré’s continued “measurable success, scale, and profitable growth” during the pandemic. Its price range is $25 to $570, compared to the $60 to $5,000 range of 11 Honore’s partner brands. His second drop focused on sweats.
According to Boujarwah, retailers have had trouble getting plus-size offerings off the ground independently, largely due to marketing-related challenges. On Thursday, Old Navy announced its decision to scale back its pioneering Bodequality initiative, offering sizes 0-30 across all of its sales channels. Loft, for its part, eliminated its plus business in the fall of 2021.
“Unfortunately, it’s a pattern that has been repeated many times,” said Boujarwah, speaking of the Old Navy news. “Developing garments that fit well, having the right inventory and distribution, and investing in the awareness necessary to make new offerings successful continues to place a very high order for brands.”
The partnership, which broadens both companies’ customer base, creates a compelling proposition for brands considering entering the plus-size category, Herning said. “We have the eyeballs, we have the customer. All they need to do is invest in product development.”
Herning, who had been brand director for 11 Honoré, said his role going forward will be that of founder. He noted that the creative and merchandising teams that built the 11 Honoré brand will join Dia & Co. under the deal.
As for the timing of the sale, Herning said, “We over-indexed the brand and had challenges acquiring customers. Besides, we had gotten as far as we could on our own. The best thing for the business, our clients and our shareholders was to find a new home that gave us the opportunity [to chart] our next phase of growth.”
In December 2020, Herning co-founded Thirteen Lune, an e-retailer selling beauty products from Black and brand founders. In July 2021, she signed a deal with JCPenney to help fill the beauty void left by Sephora, moving her to Kohl’s.
Source: www.glossy.co