The Kaplans’s Fashion To Figure

The brothers are the great-grandsons of Lena “Lane� Bryant, the woman who founded the popular plus-sized clothing chain which roots date back to the early 20th century

[Business News]

For many plus-size women around New York City, “Fashion to Figure” is their new “home away from home”.

That’s how co-founder and CEO Michael Kaplan describes his chain of stores.

“It’s home for a lot of people who go to work, home for people who go shopping there and home for people whose merchandise is on display,” Kaplan says. “We really want to be that home for everybody.”

Michael and his older brother, Nicholas, who is also the co-founder of “Fashion to Figure”, are no strangers to the fashion industry; you can say it’s in their blood. The brothers are the great-grandsons of Lena “Lane” Bryant, the woman who founded the popular plus-size clothing chain which roots date back to the early 20th century. Now, close to 100 years later, the family has introduced a trendier, more contemporary option for the full-figure woman, and, as Michael says, “It’s about time.”

“It’s a market that has very few options, not a lot of respect, and not a lot of service,” Michael tells The Black Star News. “I think for a long time because of the stigmas that have existed in society, it has been seen as this non-sexy market that’s not an exciting place to do work. But thankfully, that’s changing.”

Many customers have expressed their gratitude to the brothers for providing them with another fashion outlet to choose from and some have requested that Michael and Nick open stores in their states. “Please bring your store to New Orleans,” one customer wrote via E-mail message. “We only have one choice for plus-size fashion here. I shopped at the store in New Jersey, and loved it,” she wrote.

Other customers shared similar feedback.

“Fashion to Figure changed my life,” another customer wrote. “Before FTF came along, I hated shopping. Nothing ever fit, and the clothes for plus sizes were either made for granny or too expensive. Now, like other shop-a-holics, I usually feel horrible at the end of the month for spending too much money.”

This holiday season, “Fashion to Figure” is offering customers their “fun and trendy” apparel at the great prices found throughout the year. “We have a tremendous coat selection, wool sweaters at 2 for $30 – gift cards for guys looking for the perfect gift for their wives or significant other,” Michael says.

The Fashion to Figure stores can be found at three different locations close to the New York City area: Palisades Mall, West Nyack, N.Y.; Livingston Mall, Livingston, N.J. and Jersey Gardens Mall, Elizabeth, N.J. Michael says a fourth store is set to open at the Green Acres Mall, Valley Stream, N.Y. within a few weeks, and the brothers are looking to someday open stores in each of the five New York City boroughs.


For more information, customers can also visit the Fashion to Figure Web site at
[email protected].

 

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