Darlene Lebron and Sandra Negron live in New York City, are Puerto Rican descents and wear plus sizes. For years, each one of them separately has dedicated themselves to promoting the beauty and style of fashion for bodies and shapes like their own.
They came together to become partners in The Blogger House Curvy Closet, a platform for selling plus size clothing online, specifically through Facebook and Facebook Live. In just over two years they have sold more than 6,000 pieces of top brands and designers, with sizes from 10 to 32.
For some time now, the focus of Darlene Lebrón, CEO of Blogger House Curvy Closet, has been “fashion, beauty and physical movement to create a safe environment to initiate critical conversations surrounding self-acceptance, self-love, health and wellness,” she writes on the blog Suits, Heels & Curves, which she created on a snowy day in February 2014. She started the blog because she perceived that there were few references on the web for plus size fashion. This was the first step towards what would become her career: a keynote speaker, an influencer herself in plus size fashion.
In 2012, Sandra Negron, COO of Blogger House Curvy Closet, had created the blog “La Pecosa Preciosa” (“The Precious Freckle Face”), where she breaks patterns about the way plus-size women are perceived by themselves and others, and shares her “smart shopping” of outfits for her figure. ” I love fashion and I’ve learned to dress for my size and shape without having my wardrobe consist of leggings and over sized t-shirts. One thing I hate to see is an ill-dressed plus size woman. There should be no reason for that!” Negron wrote in the blog.
The Blogger House Curvy Closet began in 2017. Darlene Lebron wanted to open up space in her closet, full with many pieces she had used once at parties and events, and which she knew she would never wear again. She decided to sell them through Facebook. Lebron soon understood that this was also an opportunity to offer designer and branded clothing to plus-size women at more affordable prices. Sandra Negron joined in some time later with the sale of her own clothes. That’s how they became partners.
Now they make sales once a month through Facebook Live. This monthly appointment, according to the platform’s description, has become a space that “has inspired women to get out of get out of their comfort zone, trying new styles without breaking the bank.” They share their outfits of the day; they cultivate a more personal bond. This network has already reached 100,000 plus-size women across the United States. “This became a community.” They call it “the BHCC squad.”
Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico happened the same year Lebron and Negron released the platform. This was a turning point for them. They asked influencers, models, bloggers and customers to donate clothes from their closets. They organized a sale and used the proceeds to buy water, food and hygiene items for hurricane survivors on the island. They partnered with Suzanne Ujaque Guzman of SuStyle TV for local distribution of items and clothe that had not been sold.
From then on, The Blogger House Curvy Closet was consolidated. Many of the clothes they sell nowadays still come out of the closets of influencers and other plus-size referents.
They now ship all over the United States and Puerto Rico. To the monthly sale on Facebook Live they added a weekly flash sale on Thursdays.