Timeless. Heritage. Iconic. That’s how founder, author, and chef Ellen Bennett describes the vision for her brand, Hedley & Bennett. It’s also how she describes denim, the founding fabric behind her equal parts proper and badass apron brand.
Ellen started hustling in 2012 in a professional kitchen with a need for something better; a pro-grade apron developed hand in hand with insanely talented, detail-obsessed chefs, just like her. Together, they “nerded out” over every detail, creating the hardest-working, best-looking culinary workwear in the world.
While Ellen says she had no idea what she was getting herself into in the beginning — she hilariously compares the feeling to “jumping into the deep end of the pool, with sharks, while naked” — she did know that she wanted to empower creativity and inspire confidence in the kitchen. She wanted chefs to feel like they could pull off anything when they put on her apron. She obsessed over function, quality, and style, refusing to settle for anything less than the best.
Starting with denim allowed her to check off all of the practical necessities like durability, comfort, and resistance to stains, but it was bigger than that for Ellen. “Denim has always been very special to us,” she says, “because of its connection to heritage and quality. It’s timeless. It never goes out of style. It will always embody craftsmanship. It’s everything that Hedley & Bennett represents for me.”
Embrace who you are.
Ellen’s personal style has always been intertwined with the dichotomy of her roots. Half English and half Mexican, she loves to mix and match her classic, neutral staples, like the perfect pair of white jeans, with bold pops of color and texture. “I don’t just get my inspiration from people or designers; it’s from life,” she says. Ellen is fiercely proud of the two sides of her culture and credits those contrasting experiences for shaping her unique perspective. “Combine the bold energy and bright colors of Mexico City with a proper English Peter Pan collar, and that’s kind of me in a nutshell.” She has good manners and knows all the swear words. She’s proper and badass. Always both.
When she started Hedley & Bennett, Ellen’s personal style became the blueprint for the company’s ethos. She began by working with denim because it reflected that same unique duality: equally classic and bold. Early collaborations with celebrity chefs like Alton Brown put Hedley & Bennett in the spotlight. “They felt like they had a piece of the company in a way, like they were building this with me. I wasn’t guessing what my customers needed; they were literally telling me. And they nerded out on it like they were creating a new dish. You can’t really replicate that; you can’t buy what we built together.” One collaboration led to another (and another, and another), making Hedley & Bennett a favorite brand among chefs, foodies, and culinary enthusiasts.
Sustainability isn’t all or nothing.
Ellen’s view on sustainability is all about small choices that add up to real impact. “I think ‘sustainability’ can be a really scary word to a lot of people because they assume they have to be 100% sustainable or nothing. And I actually don’t think of it that way. I think about little edits you can make in your life or in your business that will tip the scale,” she says. Little edits like choosing to recycle denim through Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green™ program.
Whether it’s alongside her team at Hedley & Bennett or in her personal life, Ellen loves sharing easy and attainable ways to make people’s lives better and bring some good into the world. She’s excited to use her platform to educate people about how simple sustainable living can be when we focus on one small choice at a time. “The more digestible and simple it is to do the right thing, the more likely people are to do it. I love that I can share this opportunity to recycle old denim through the program and have it turned into something new. That’s really awesome.”
