Hayley’s Story

For as long as I can remember, all I wanted to do was make a difference. I also wanted to make beautiful clothes. I never could have imagined, how combining the two, could and would, determine my destiny.

39 years ago I went from being a regular size 34 to a very plus size 40. Suddenly I had to find a completely different look. I was completely DUMBFOUNDED, at the total lack of consideration, for all us not so perfect bodied women. Back then it was as if I didn’t exist, there was absolutely nothing available for Plus-sizes. I was at Wits Technikon, doing a Fashion Design and Management Technology course, and it was here that I started playing with shapes for Odd and Plus-sizes.

In my initial research, I discovered that most of the designers and buyers for the Plus-size ranges, were young, size 10 women. How could a 20 something, size 10, even imagine what my size 40 body requires, to make it look slimmer?

I started dreaming about creating a space that all the forgotten women out there, could claim as their own. 15 years ago, I opened HAYLEY JOY in the Dunkeld West Shopping Centre, offering REGULAR, ODD and PLUS-sizes. The HJ journey has been an incredible one. I have experienced gratitude on a level that I could never have imagined. This is where my yearning to make a difference really came into play. In the beginning we only offered up to a size 3XL. I soon realised, that to make a REAL difference, I would need to size all the ranges, up to as big as the demand. I’m fortunate to have my own factory, and this has allowed me to push all the design boundaries. I love that HJ production can step up to any challenge. We are a proudly South African company and we design and manufacture, our own exclusive range of funky, fashionable and most importantly, comfortable clothing, sized from small to 7XL. One of the recurring requests was, why can’t regular styles be upsized into Plus-sizes? This was a real challenge for me, but one I knew if I got right, would change many, many lives. I started by developing shapes that are exclusive to HJ. This was one of the few times that I was grateful to be a Plus-size. I used myself as the template, and developed various shapes, that we could then style according to current fashion trends. My main goal was to create a space, where all sizes, have access to all styles. This was very important to me, and I was determined that no size would ever be maligned at Hayley Joy. HJ retail has worked incredibly hard to build up faith in our shopping experience.

2020 proved to be a defining moment for Hayley Joy. Our lease on our retail space came up for renewal and in the midst of a devastating pandemic we decided not to renew it. We moved upstairs, into a showroom space, next to our factory and it was the best thing we could have ever done. Our online store has exploded and we are couriering orders all over the country and the world. The way business is done has changed massively and I am hugely grateful to have been given the opportunity to re-invent the way we sell.

This is no ordinary fashion brand, we change lives, BIG TIME!!

My PASSION, is for FASHION, in all shapes and sizes!

❤️ Hayley