Meet Eleanor Turner | Founder & CEO, The Big Favorite

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eleanor Turner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eleanor, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The Big Favorite was one of 5 companies that my great grandfather owned during the ’30s through the ’60s. They made reliable American workwear for hardworking Americans sold in corner stores across the country. Textiles and manufacturing is in my blood. Fast forward through 10 years in fashion working for companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, and J.Crew, and then co-founding women’s workwear brand, Argent. Throughout my experience, it was hard to look away from how wasteful the fashion industry is and how one small choice can have big impact. While running my first start up, I realized it was up to me to make better decisions: what do we do with all of these perfectly good plastic hangers? What do we do with all of this beautiful fabric in last season’s color? That’s where The Big Favorite’s mission surfaced. Could we solve an industry problem by approaching it with a better, more reliable, convenient and circular product? And so I began researching. That’s when I found out that 11M pounds of undergarment textile waste ends up in U.S. landfills DAILY. Mostly because undergarments can’t be donated or resold. So I designed a line of fully circular undershirts and underwear, which means we take them back when customers wear them out, rewarding them on a future purchase, and turning waste into new yarn. We launched in November of 2020 have been featured in Vogue and Fast Company, and have dressed fashion icons like Nicole Richie, Christopher John Rogers and Alton Mason.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My grit, ambition, and ability to bet on myself are the qualities that set me apart in fashion. My Dad always encouraged me to venture out and carve a new path for myself. The result is my unconventional career path. I went from working in a PR closet as an unpaid intern at Tommy Hilfiger, to a paid position as a liaison to their runway collection, to making the jump into design at Tory Burch, then landing a most-coveted position at the time on J.Crew’s design team. After that, I made the transition into entrepreneurialism by co-founding my first company, Argent, where I got to run New York operations, touch everything, and design for and dress powerful women like Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Amy Poehler, Emily Weiss, among others. It was incredibly hard, but emboldened my ambition. Now I’m founding The Big Favorite. It was my grit, ambition, and belief in myself that got me here. The number one piece of advice I give my mentees is “bet on yourself.” As individuals, we see the world in truly unique ways. The more we cultivate our points of view, the more successful we become.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love being in Philadelphia because it has an incredible history in terms of industry. At the turn of the century, it was one of the biggest textile manufacturing hubs in the world. It’s an industrial city, and it even has a hockey mascot called Gritty. Philadelphia also houses one of the largest private collections of Impressionist art in the world at The Barnes Museum. That’s normally my favorite place to start after grabbing a pistachio sticky bun from K’Far. From there, we’d head over to the Rocky Statue and cruise Fairmount Park next to the Schulykill (pronounced: Skookill) River. There are beautiful views and it’s a great place to get outside for a walk when the weather is nice. Next, we would head down to Pat’s or Gino’s for a Cheese Steak. It’s Philly – you have to have a cheese steak. We’d picnic in Rittenhouse Square and take a walk through Old City and Society Hill stopping for some Ciders at Hale & True. We’d visit our friends’ shops, Yowie, Good Buy Supply, All Caps Studio, BWC Garments, P’s and Q’s to peruse sustainable and streetwear goods in South Philly before finishing up for dinner at Square Pie – delicious deep dish pizza born here in Philly.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate this to my entrepreneurial group in NYC! They are the most amazing, fierce, driven, resourceful, and rosy group of women I know, and I would not be able to found my second company without their support. So grateful to them!

Website: www.thebigfavorite.com

Instagram: @thebigfavorite

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-turner/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_bigfavorite

Image Credits
Breanne Furlong Parker