It’s not often that you get to hang with one of your heroes, but we gotta say, getting to know the kitchen’s coolest aproned crusader, Ellen Bennett, was one of the brightest spots of our 2020 interview series. We’ve long stan-ed Ellen’s innovative kitchenwear company, Hedley & Bennett, but after getting to know her on Zoom and then in person, we have shifted some of that love to the lady herself. Ellen is so zesty and clearly has tons of business savvy and true hustle. Her candor about starting a company and working to make it palatable for both restaurant chefs and home cooks is canny, cool, and way admirable.

MELISSA: How have you shifted as a business and as an individual to accommodate this new normal? What are you doing differently that you did not do before?
ELLEN: I am cooking way more. This is something I have always been doing but I am cooking way more than ever these days. I love to go to the Farmer’s Market and then cook for 6 hours making an obnoxious amount of food. Cooking has always been my secret weapon. This truly has been helping me keep my head on straight. Other than that, we have a pet pig and some chickens, so I spend most of the time in my backyard with them. It is a small, crazy community back there and they keep me entertained. I also joined a 7:00 am park workout that I have been doing, which is essentially an outdoor cross-fit class. It is so aggressive but has been amazing for me! These are just a few of the odd things we are doing to keep us sane during these times.

MELISSA: I love hearing about how it all progressed. How do you decide to come out with new colors or new styles? Are you following a traditional fashion calendar? How do you decide what to develop next and how often is this done?
ELLEN: For a long time, it was pretty whimsical–but now that the company has evolved, and we have a larger team and factory, we have to be a little more responsible about our design choices. We have a core line and a selection of limited drops. The core is the bread and butter of our line and is there all the time, and then like we will have a limited collection for the holidays which have fun prints. We have some tie-dye aprons out right now which ties in the fashion piece. We have a base and then color optionality depending on the season, so yes, there is an inspiration from fashion for sure!
MELISSA: What was the reason for starting the line? Did you think that the notion of “feeling good in your apron” was lacking? Or was it purely a functional issue?
ELLEN: There was a good foundational layer of Hedley & Bennett that was built on inspiring people to just try and roll into that kitchen. Whether you were a line cook or professional chef– you mattered, and we wanted people to feel inspired. Putting on the uniform should inspire people to ‘make something happen.’ In a weird way that, has not fully happened in a home kitchen— as not everyone thinks of an apron as an essential tool. However, in a professional kitchen, you have a cutting board, a knife, and an apron and then you get to work. We wanted to build the bridge and connect the dots of cooking—when you look and feel the part, you can do the part better. People say wearing the apron boosts their confidence in the kitchen, and we love hearing that! We are not just a garment, we are making something that is functional that you can wear all the time and that can inspire you to do better.