11 Honoré is launching a new initiative on June 17 with BIPOC designers in collaboration with Danielle Williams-Eke, the Design Director at 11 Honoré. The first two designers kicking off this
initiative are LaQuan Smith and Greta Constantine.
11 Honoré BIPOC Initiative Kicks Off With Designers LaQuan Smith and Greta Constantine
Danielle Williams-Eke wanted to use 11 Honoré as a platform to help fellow established BIPOC designers launch into extending sizing. LaQuan Smith and Kirk Pickersgill from Greta Constantine worked with Danielle (11 Honoré design director) and the 11 Honoré team to perfect the sizing for several months.
“When it comes to sizing, you are not going to get it right with the first sample – it takes time with the utmost attention to detail and measurements,” says Danielle.
“As Design Director for 11 Honoré, not only is it my responsibility to design for plus size women, who are often ignored in this industry, but as a Black Designer, it is important that I am a part of ushering other Black Designers into the plus space. Black designers and creatives have been overlooked and underrepresented in the fashion industry for far too long, so needless to say, this initiative is very close to my heart.”
Danielle Williams-Eke, Design Director at 11 Honore.
This initiative will be an ongoing one, with new designers launching every 2 – 3 months (Romeo Hunte will be the next designer in the initiative). By creating this initiative, 11 Honoré wants to continue to amplify its voice in the fashion industry by working with brands and designers that need and/or want guidance in launching extended sizing collections.
Kirk Pickersgill, on the initiative, said, “it first struck me to explore extended sizing when a customer shared that the only time she felt bad about herself was when she walked into the fitting room. To me, that is a problem.”
“The initiative with 11 Honoré is rooted in our belief that garments must empower, excite, and inspire. Regardless of where you live, the color of your skin or the number that is sewn into your favorite dress, dressing up is a celebration of what makes you you.”
Kirk Pickersgill, Greta Constantine.
Addressing The Recent Controversy
We (like I’m sure you are too) were curious if this BIPOC initiative had anything to do with course-correcting the valid criticism that the brand received after announcing their collaboration with the controversial figure, Lena Dunham.
Even though this initiative and collaboration news is super exciting and promising, we wanted to give the brand an opportunity to address those past concerns, and here’s what Danielle Williams-Eke, Design Director at 11 Honoré responded:
“We started working on this project back in December 2020, so this initiative was not intentionally created to address the previous collaboration collection, but our hope is that those within the community who voiced their concerns feel a bit more comforted in knowing that we are not blind to what is going on in our country and that we have been actively doing the work of diversifying our designer offering.
Our goal at 11 Honoré from day one had been to make the luxury fashion space more inclusive, and this BIPOC Designer initiative is doing just that.
I also want to clarify that this isn’t a collaboration in the traditional sense of us working with another designer to create and manufacture the collection. This is a part of an initiative to diversify our Designer/Brand offerings.
These pieces are directly from the designer’s Spring/Summer 2021 Collections and will be produced by the designers themselves. Where we did collaborate was in the area of fit.”
We would love to know your thoughts!
What are your thoughts on this new BIPOC initiative by 11 Honoré to help BIPOC designers expand into extended sizing? Does this change your opinion of the brand? Will you be grabbing up some of these designer looks?!