In an essay she wrote for Glamour in the spring, Chan explained how her personal struggle to find professional plus-size work clothes that felt elevated and sophisticated affected her confidence—and how it eventually led her to start Henning.
“Beyond what our exclusion tells us subliminally, we also face a very real ripple effect. When women above a certain size don’t have access to sharp, well-made clothes, we face a measurable disadvantage,” she wrote. “When we have to wear something shitty—surprise!—we feel shitty. I was sick of starting my day with that feeling, because it legitimately affected my work: I’d be in a bad mood during a morning meeting or I’d skip a nighttime industry event because I didn’t think I looked like I belonged there… I became so obsessed with the idea that millions of women like me were facing a similar disadvantage at work for being plus-size that I flat-out quit my job to help them.”
You can shop Henning online at henningnyc.com.