Influencer-turned-business owner shares how she's making clothing more inclusive, one T-shirt at a time
Daryl-Ann Denner is a Dallas-based influencer and the co-founder of 'nuuds'
Instagram influencer shares what inspired her to start a body inclusive, basics clothing brand
Daryl-Ann Denner is a Dallas-based influencer who started posting online as her true self — a t-shirt and jeans type of girl — in 2019. Here’s how she’s taken her following of over 1.4 million and turned it into a full-blown business.
Finding that perfect basic T-shirt can be a difficult — maybe it’s too fitted, too short, not thick enough or has an itchy tag in the back.
One Dallas-based influencer is putting the struggle of finding the perfect tee to an end with a high-quality, elevated basics clothing brand.
Daryl-Ann Denner is an Instagram influencer with over 1.4 million followers of her day-to-day life.
Fox News Digital talked to her about her rise to influencer fame — and how she’s now parlaying it into something bigger.
"I started blogging in 2015, and it was very fashion-focused, outfit-focused," she recalled.
Daryl-Ann Denner is co-founder of nuuds, a high-quality basics brand with a mission of making "every body" of every size feel comfortable. (Daryl-Ann Denner / Fox News)
At the time, Denner was a high school chemistry teacher by day, sharing outfits on Instagram by night.
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After growing her following and quitting her job to spend more time with her family, Denner said she hit a breaking point after she gave birth to her son, Rhett.
"I had my first kid, and Instagram stories came out — it became more and more difficult for me to live this perfectly curated lifestyle," she said.
Denner said she was tired of trying to have a "perfectly curated lifestyle" online — and decided to "show up" as herself. (nuuds / Fox News)
So, in 2019, Denner decided to start showing up online "as herself" — taking out her extensions and leaning into the T-shirt-and-jeans kind of girl she said she had always been.
From there, her following took off.
"It was what people had been craving," she said. "People just want to relate to someone."
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Since then, success for this now mom of two has shown through her follower gains, brand deals and collaborations — and the launch of her own company.
Denner said nuuds was born out of wanting to feel comfortable in elevated, everyday basics. (nuuds / Fox News)
Nuuds is a high-quality, elevated basics clothing brand made to fit "every body" — no matter the size.
"I told them [that] I didn’t want a fit model."
Denner, who knew nothing about the clothing manufacturing industry, said the one thing she did know was what she wanted — a high-quality, real-body fit.
"At the end of the day, if it doesn’t fit you right, you’re not going to feel good in it," she said.
Denner and her husband, Daniel, are co-founders of nuuds. They decided to not use the typical fit models when creating the clothing.
Denner told Fox News Digital that working with her family is one of the best parts of her job — saying she refused to hire fit models to test nuuds. (nuuds / Fox News)
"I told them [that] I didn’t want a fit model," she recalled.
With a large range of sizes within her own family, Denner said she used her family members to fit the clothes to real bodies.
"I don’t believe there’s a perfectly proportionate size medium," she said.
Instead, Denner said, "We’re going to fit this on me, who’s short with a long torso, and my sister who’s a size 2X because nothing, she complains, ever fits her right."
The Dallas-based influencer (center) and her family share their lives on social media daily. (nuuds / Fox News)
The mom of two said she wanted to address the real issues people have when shopping for clothes.
"Everyone has rolls in some sense — they don’t like them," she said. "Let’s make sure the fabric addresses that."
"At the end of the day, if it doesn’t fit you right, you’re not going to feel good in it."
Some of the nuuds products include plain T-shirts, bodysuits and tank tops. The pieces range in color from white and bone to coffee and mocha shades.
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Nuuds launched in October 2022.
It has since sold over 475,000 units, Denner said.
Nuuds is expanding with pop-up storefronts across the country for one weekend only. (nuuds / Fox News)
The retail company currently has 26 employees — growth that Denner said she never thought would occur so quickly.
The clothing items can be bought on their website or at various pop-up locations around the U.S.
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Also, Denner will launch a kid’s clothing version of nuuds, called tones, in late July 2023.