How These Founders Reinvented the Apron and Won Over Celebrity Chefs Founded in 2012, H&B now supplies aprons for more than 700 restaurant clients across the globe.
By Carren Jao •
This story appears in the January 2015 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
It's about as humdrum an item of apparel as you can get. But in the hands of an impassioned Los Angeles-based designer, the humble apron has become the cornerstone for a successful business.
Hedley & Bennett (H&B) got its start in 2012, when Ellen Bennett—then a line cook for trendy L.A. restaurants Providence and Bäco Mercat, and a personal chef—finally had enough. "An apron is something that every single chef uses besides a knife," says Bennett, who juggled all three jobs while launching her company. "It was this thing that we all wore, and it was ugly and gross and weird."
