Why Working From Home Doesn’t Have To Mean Sacrificing Style (Win!)

With many new realities firmly in place, comfort has become a leading trend in work-from-home attire. But that doesn’t mean we need to sacrifice style. We chatted with Threads founder Xenia Chen, a former investment banker who was frustrated with the lack of comfort and reliability provided by drugstore tights/nylons, about why she’s still wearing her tights daily, even when working from her home office. —Vita Daily

Hi Xenia! Please tell us a bit about yourself to start!

I’m a 28-year-old Leo, ESTJ, living in Toronto with my fiancé and German Shepherd. I was born in China and immigrated to Canada with my parents when I was five years old. I started my career in finance and somehow found my way to entrepreneurship!

When and why did you launch Threads?

I started Threads in 2018, although the idea first came to me a few years before when I was at my first job out of university in investment banking. I noticed my female coworkers would always be complaining about their tights—whether it was about comfort or how much money they were spending. I remember thinking, “How is it possible that this wardrobe staple is still such a pain point?” The brands on the market seem very old-fashioned and antiquated and I felt like you were either spending $10 at the drugstore for a pair that sucks or spending $60 on a pair that’s comfortable and luxurious, but still has some sort of shelf life before it rips or wears out. I started doing more research into the industry and realized that many of the brands we buy from are actually owned by larger companies whose main focus is not womenswear. Their supply chains are long and each link takes a markup—and that price eventually falls on the customer. We’ve created Threads to be different. Not only are we really proud of the way we design our tights, we also work directly with our factory in Italy and we’re able to cut out the middlemen. So at the end of the day, our customer gets a luxury pair of tights at a fraction of the price they’d otherwise be paying. Our customer also has the option to buy one-time or subscribe so they get a shipment each month without having to remember (because let’s face it, we all have so much better things to do with our time).

What makes Threads tights different?

When I first started working on the idea of Threads, I took feedback from more than 200 women to really understand what they loved about their tights and what they hated. Our tights are the culmination of all those pieces of feedback. We’ve taken the little things that bother women about traditional tights and made them better. So things like a longer leg length that actually corresponds to size (instead of all being the same length), or a contoured waistband that actually hugs and is flattering on the right areas (instead of feeling constricted). I think if you sampled a group of our customers and asked them what their favourite part about our tights is, each person would tell you something different.

With WFH as the new norm, how do tights fit into our pro (and casual) wardrobes?

With WFH attire, I think we all went from getting really excited about wearing sweats and pyjamas all day at the beginning of the pandemic to eventually realizing we missed dressing up or it contributed to our productivity and mindset shift in some way or another. I think we’ve landed somewhere in the middle of the spectrum now where we’re looking for function and comfort, but also want to look good and feel good during the day. Tights have always been a staple in women’s wardrobes and will continue to be, especially as the temperatures drop. I think our opaque tight is the perfect WFH piece. They feel like leggings on but definitely dress up your look a bit for those virtual calls.

So, which pair of Threads are you currently rocking on repeat?!

Now that the weather is getting a bit colder, definitely our opaque tights! They’re so comfortable and light and they go with so many pieces in my closet. Also, when it gets really cold, I love wearing them under my pants as an added layer for warmth!

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Win! A $150 Threads Gift Card!

We have a winner! Congratulations Peggy D. of Halifax, NS, who will receive a $150 Threads gift card!