founder lena himmelstein bryant malsin headquarters columbus ohio 40 02 37 n 82 54 53 w 40.043622 n 82.914720 w 40.043622 ; 82.914720 u.s. number of locations 700 stores key people linda heasley ceo products clothing parent ascena retail group website www.lanebryant.com lane bryant is a united states retail women s clothing store chain focusing on plus size clothing . it began in 1904 with the innovative maternity designs created by lena himmelstein bryant malsin . 1 as of 2013 the chain consists of 812 stores in 46 u.s. states only alaska hawaii montana and wyoming do not have lane bryant stores . 2 contents 1 beginning 2 early company challenges 3 mail order catalog 4 other company innovations 5 continued company growth 6 today 7 slogans 8 advertising 9 designer collaborations 10 see also 11 references 12 external links beginning edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message widowed at an early age lena bryant supported herself and her young son as a dressmaker . borrowing 300 for working capital from her brother in law bryant went to the bank to open an account . the bank officer misspelled her name on the application as lane instead of lena . in 1904 she rented a small storefront on fifth avenue with living quarters in the back for 12.50 a month . there she hung her garments from the gas fixtures and opened the doors . asked by one of her pregnant customers to design something presentable but comfortable to wear in public bryant created a dress with an elasticized waistband and accordion pleated skirt . this would be the first known commercially made maternity dress . this dress was welcomed not only by middle class women but by poorer pregnant women who had to work . the maternity dress soon became the best selling garment in bryant s shop . early company challenges edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message when bryant married albert malsin in 1909 he took charge of the business . he systematically began to develop and expand it . albert instituted engineering exactness and modern cost accounting and pricing . sales had reached 50 000 a year by 1910 . albert was determined to steer the operation towards specialization . to produce in quantity and at lower cost he began to have dozens of dresses mechanically cut at once and employed high speed sewing methods . lane bryant began supplying design pattern materials and financing for contractors . though bryant came up with an innovative and commercially viable product she had trouble getting the word out tradition dictated that topics like pregnancy were not discussed in the press . her husband took on this challenge by convincing the new york herald to accept advertising for their venture in 1911 . when the paper did the shop s entire stock sold out the next day . bryant saw another need just before world war i. before then there were no mass manufacturers of clothing for stout figured women . after measuring 4 500 of her own customers as well as gathering information from about 200 000 other women it was obvious that a new challenge had to be met . bryant determined three types of stout women and designed clothing to fit each . plus sized clothing quickly eclipsed the maternity line and by 1923 company sales reached 5 million . mail order catalog edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message to bypass exclusion from the newspapers the malsins created the first mail order catalog for maternity wear . the mail order business was developed for the women preferring privacy about their condition . by 1917 revenues from the catalog exceeded one million dollars . by 1919 their stout catalog had 52 pages and the maternity catalog had 76 pages . other company innovations edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message lena bryant was a pioneer in other ways . her customers were important to her and customer relations and corporate philanthropy were high on her list . at her suggestion lane bryant inc. worked with the red cross to replace any lane bryant customer s wardrobe destroyed in a disaster . after the 1947 texas city disaster in texas city texas the company outfitted 58 mail order customers whose homes were destroyed in the resulting fire . this is only one example of many . another concern was employee benefits . at a time when few companies offered anything more than wage lane bryant offered profit sharing pension disability insurance group life insurance plans and medical benefits . by 1950 more than 3 500 employees participated in these pioneering concepts . twenty five percent of the stock issued when the company went public was reserved for employee subscription . continued company growth edit a page from the lane bryant spring summer 1954 catalog . in 1915 the first branch retail store opened in chicago . after her death in 1951 bryant s sons took over the business . the lane bryant operations were purchased in may 1982 by the limited founded by leslie wexner . in 1961 lane bryant acquired town & country a pennsylvania based discount department store . 3 the town & country division was eliminated in 1977 . 4 today edit the catalog operations were licensed to brylane now redcats in 1993 . the retail operations were sold to charming shoppes another owner of plus size clothing stores in 1999 for 335 million . 5 charming has since expanded the chain and introduced online and outlet sales . lane bryant s sisters include fashion bug and catherines . in order to trade on the well known lane bryant brand charming folded all of its store sites into the lane bryant domain ; fashionbug.com and catherines.com both redirect to fashionbug.lanebryant.com and catherines.lanebryant.com respectively . today lane bryant is a large retail chain present in many shopping centers across the united states . in 2004 lane bryant opened a flagship store in new york near fifth avenue . 5 charming shoppes regained the license for the catalog operations in late october 2007 . in june 2012 ascena retail group parent company of dressbarn purchased charming shoppes with a 900 million transaction through a combination of cash on hand and 325 million of borrowings from credit facilities . 6 7 8 slogans edit old lane bryant logo 1980s 2014 what real women wear 1995 2004 bold . modern . you . 2004 2010 nobody fits you like lane bryant 2010 2012 imnoangel plusisequal thisbody 2014 present what s your body made for 2016 present advertising edit in 2010 lane bryant accused fox and abc of censoring their 30 second ad spot during commercial breaks for dancing with the stars and american idol . the ads featured plus sized model ashley graham in their new cacique line of lingerie . lane bryant accused the two networks of bias and discrimination because they had no problem with airing victoria s secret advertisements with similarly clad models in the same time slots . 9 10 in march 2016 lane bryant again accused abc and nbc of banning a 30 second lingerie ad featuring the tagline this body which depicted mild nudity and breastfeeding . 11 designer collaborations edit in 2013 lane bryant announced its first designer collaboration with designer isabel toledo and artist ruben toledo . 12 13 14 for holiday 2013 december 2013 the duo produced a capsule collection with a logo tee and a tote bag both featuring ruben s sketches . 12 13 14 in march 2014 their first full collection for spring 2014 was launched . 15 on march 20 2014 a runway presentation was held in new york city which was simulcasted live online . 16 17 in march 2014 lane bryant announced their second designer collaboration with sophie theallet . 18 theallet will produce lingerie and sleepwear for lane bryant s lingerie brand cacique which was released in fall 2014 september 2014 . 18 see also edit lane bryant shooting references edit lane bryant . jewish virtual library . retrieved 2013 02 23 . all lane bryant locations . forlocations.com . retrieved 2013 02 23 . lane bryant inc. acquires town & country distributors . https books.google.com books id 26kiaqaamaaj & q % 22town % 26 country % 22 % 22lane bryant % 22 & dq % 22town % 26 country % 22 % 22lane bryant % 22 & hl en & sa x & ei l9vjutumbqt 4apvuicwbg & ved 0cfaq6aewba a b history of lane bryant inc. fundinguniverse . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 2013 02 23 . staff may 2 2012 charming shoppes to be sold for 890m philadelphia business journal morning ed . retrieved may 27 2012 james palczynski ; gayle m coolick ; james mccusker eds . may 2 2012 ascena retail group inc. reaches agreement to acquire charming shoppes inc. press release thomson reuters retrieved may 27 2012 merger lingerie ads nixed due to plus sized model . cbs . april 24 2010 . tracy clark flory april 21 2010 . lane bryant s curvy models censored . salon . lane bryant underwear ad deemed too racy for nbc abc . cbs . march 11 2016 . a b cowles charlotte 8 october 2013 . isabel and ruben toledo partner with lane bryant . nymag.com . retrieved 18 march 2014 . a b glein kelsey 8 october 2013 . lane bryant announces first ever designer collaboration with isabel and ruben toledo . instyle.com . retrieved 18 march 2014 . a b lane bryant partners with isabel and ruben toledo for first designer collection . apparel.edgl.com . retrieved 18 march 2014 . sonenshein julia . stunning isabel toledo x lane bryant collection should help convince the world that plus size women like clothing too . thegloss.com . retrieved 18 march 2014 . join us for the isabel toledo fashion show . insidecurve.lanebryant.com . retrieved 18 march 2014 . high fashion for women of all shapes and sizes . style.com . 21 march 2014 . retrieved 26 march 2014 . a b mccall tyler . sophie theallet to design lingerie for lane bryant . fashionista.com . retrieved 18 march 2014 . external links edit official website v t e l brands current bath & body works c. o. bigelow henri bendel la senza victoria s secret the white barn candle company former abercrombie & fitch express galyan s lane bryant lerner new york the limited the limited too retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title lane bryant & oldid 744388575 categories clothing retailers of the united statescompanies based in the columbus ohio metropolitan areal brands brandsmail order retailersshops in new york cityretail companies established in 1904hidden categories articles needing additional references from december 2015all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 14 october 2016 at 22 07 . text