Until recently, Grammy winner and Tony-nominated actor Danielle Brooks kept a Pinterest board of “looks I wanted to wear, but nobody had designed.” Working with luxury online retailer 11 Honoré on a capsule collection, she got the chance to make those outfits a reality for plus-sized people sized 12-26. “I personally feel like I have a good eye, and being that I’ve been plus size since I was 5, I’ve spent so much time in shapewear and wearing Spanx to make something work. To get to design clothes that I love and I think other women would love is really a dream,” she says.
Brooks developed her love of fashion while growing up in Simpsonville, South Carolina. She turned to accessories, shoes, and hats to make her outfits special, given the limited options available to her at the time. As her star rose in Broadway, film and television, she “became obsessed with the fact that for plus-sized women there are finally options that weren’t Walmart and Cato.” Still, she noticed that it was hard for her to find designers to dress her in clothes that weren’t custom. “If I’m struggling at the success level that I’m at, I’m feeling for my sisters out here who are just trying to find something to wear to their fancy, corporate jobs,” she says.
