SALAD Spotlight: Hannah Thompson

In our latest SALAD Spotlight, we sit down with client Hannah Thompson, the inspiring founder of RUNE, a premium plus-size fashion brand that's breaking boundaries and reshaping the industry. With a clear mission to celebrate and serve the plus-size community, Hannah has created a space where fashion-forward designs meet real representation. In this insightful conversation, she opens up about her proudest career moments, the challenges of balancing creativity with commercial goals, and her vision for the future of fashion. Dive into the full interview to hear more about how Hannah is driving change in an industry that often overlooks diverse body types — and why she's determined to make a lasting impact.

What’s been your proudest career achievement to date?

I would have to say, obviously, launching Rune and putting myself and the brand out there. For years I let the fact that I existed in a bigger body define me in a really negative way, and creating Rune was incredibly cathartic. I have received the most incredible feedback from customers, and in the first season of launching, I felt an enormous sense of pride in catering to a group of people who had never truly had a brand advocate solely for them.

For me, launching Rune was more than just a business. It was about showing bigger people that there is a brand that genuinely wants to make things work for them.

How do you balance creativity with commercial goals in your work?

Good question, I am not sure I do! I try to be involved in as much of the creative side as possible, but the commercial and business side of Rune is so all-consuming that I don’t get to work on the creative side as much as I would like.

There will be time in Rune’s future for me to be more creative, but for now, I need to focus on driving incremental growth in the business and increasing the visibility of plus-size fashion in areas of the industry that do not want to recognise it as a viable option.

What role does collaboration play in your work, and how do you make it successful?

I feel like I am quite good at asking the plus size community what they are missing in their wardrobes and what they would dream of having. We are a small brand, so catering to those requests is really difficult, but in the future, I want to have a panel of big babes actively collaborating on our future collections.

How do you push boundaries while staying true to a brand’s identity?

I think a lot of what Rune does is about pushing boundaries, but not because we want to be disruptive. It is because we feel like we have to. There is so much pushback against plus size fashion and so much to discuss. Every time there is news about plus size fashion, I feel we need to respond..

That being said, as a founder, I have to be mindful of how I come across. I can often find myself getting defensive when it comes to the plus size community, which can sometimes make things seem quite negative. So I try to put a positive spin on things as much as I can.

How do you see your sector evolving over the next five years?

I’d like to say that there’s going to be a shift in plus size fashion and that brands are going to wake up (again) to the fact that different sized bodies exist, but I’m just not sure it will… honestly, who knows! 

What’s a misconception about your industry that you’d like to clear up?

That fashion and style often seem to exist only for and cater to straight sized bodies! While there are a few brands catering to bigger, curvier bodies, it is important to remember that they exist. There are people in larger bodies who inspire me, finding creative ways to make fashion work for them, whether through tailoring, custom pieces or adapting smaller sized items to fit their shape.

Plus size style icons, both men and women, are absolutely smashing it, you just need to know where to look. They are out there, and I just wish people both inside and outside the industry gave them the attention they truly deserve.

Keep up to date on all things RUNE on Instagram and follow Hannah on Linkedin for more insightful industry commentary. And of course, shop the latest collection at www.rune-studio.co.uk.