Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: Lee Cooper

The brand that eventually became Lee Cooper was established in 1908 by Morris Cooper and a friend, Louis Maister, after they arrived in London from their hometown in Lithuania, having previously spent some time in South Africa. Operating under the name M.Cooper (Overalls) Ltd., from premises on Middlesex Street in London’s East End, they began production of workwear, having identified a market for it in South Africa.

During the years of the first World War, M.Cooper (Overalls), which by then employed over 600 people, halted production of workwear and began making uniforms, kit bags and rucksacks for the British Army. In 1937, a new factory dedicated to the manufacture of denim was opened in Stratford, with the business reporting a profit of £1,000 by year end. The outbreak of the second World War in 1939 led Morris Cooper to split the business into two: one arm continued making workwear, while the other concentrated on producing military uniforms, battle fatigues and flight overalls. M.Cooper (Overalls) eventually became one of the armed forces’ biggest suppliers.

Post-war

Lee Cooper promotional material

Morris Cooper died in 1940 and his son, Harold Cooper, took over the business upon his return from active service in the RAF. He set about modernising the company and building on its wartime success, switching focus to casual wear and denim production, and taking advantage of the introduction of clothes rationing to increase competitiveness. As part of a re-branding strategy, the company was rechristened, with Harold adding a version of his wife’s family name, Leigh, to his own to create Lee Cooper.

Lee Cooper jeans were adopted by the youth counterculture of the 1950s and 1960s and Harold capitalised on this association by sponsoring a Rolling Stones tour and working with Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. The company caused a degree of moral outrage in 1953 by introducing the zip-front to women’s jeans, and commissioned a series of bold publicity campaigns, some of them incorporating fictitious designers such as the Italian ‘Alfredo Angelous’ in order to appeal to subcultures such as the Mods, who favoured continental style.

The late 1970s saw expansion of production, with the company opening factories in Ireland, France and Tunisia, and by the mid 1980s these facilities were producing between 40,000 and 45,000 garments per week. During this time, annual turnover grew to more than £100 million. In 1989, the Cooper family sold their majority stake in the business, and since then Lee Cooper has become a ‘lifestyle’ brand, operating in more than seventy markets across the world. In 2008, the company celebrated its centenary.

Information taken from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Cooper#History

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: Carbrini

Carbrini was first introduced to JD Sports in 2006 with their funky clothing line of urban footwear. They are suppliers for League One side Crewe Alexandra andConference National side Luton Town.

In March 2009 Carbrini Sportswear manufactured a one-off set, of unique pink kits for Oldham Athletic for their home game against Leeds United. After the game the kits were auctioned off on the club’s website and all proceeds were donated to a charity associated with the Victoria Breast Unit at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

For the 2009 and 2010 seasons, Carbrini Sportswear were also the official kit supplier to Masters Football.

The Carbrini Sportswear football shirts use Carbrini CBX TEX garment technology, which makes the shirts more breathable and able to wick moisture away from the skin. From the start of the 2010–11 season the new shirts will feature the innovative “Twist” design. “The Twist” is an intelligent shirt that allows the shirt to work with the movement of the body.

Information taken from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carbrini_sportswear

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: Soviet

The history of Soviet clothing is a brief, but fascinating, story that began in Soviet Russia in the 1970s. Under the harsh Soviet regime, denim jeans were difficult to obtain, so a wealthy Russian socialite commissioned an Italian tailor by the name of Pietro Cosenza to make custom jeans for him. The wealthy Russian would then fly to Italy and smuggle the clothes back with him when he returned to the Soviet Union. Several years into the mutually beneficial arrangement between the two men, Pietro noticed that his friend had not paid him a visit for a while, and was saddened to learn after some investigating that he lost his life during this tumultuous period of Russian history. Pietro eventually expanded his operation back home in Italy and named his brand Soviet Clothing in honour of his former friend in 1978.

Information taken from:

http://www.gumtree.co.za/pages/soviet/

Flashzebra Clothing’s Top 5 Favourite Movie Character Outfits

Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle:

 

The items used in this design show a very unique take on typical wizardry outfits.

The vintage trouser/shirt combo provides a smart and visually appealing look to Howl, which when accustomed with his mythical pink/blue check cape create hidden levels of mystery and agenda surrounding his royal upper class persona.

 

Sweeney Todd from Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:

 

The style of clothing used for Sweeney Todd covers a selection of fashion genre’s, which in itself portrays the perfect outfit for psycho stylist killer.

The Victorian collared shirt/tie duo combined with the dusty waistcoat and pinstripe trousers compliment each other in a way that fits its present time but projects an unnerving gothic feel to the audience. His pale chalk face and black hair/white stripe contrast represent a hollowing ghost thirsting for revenge.

  

Bane from Dark Knight Rises:

 

The whole biker/army clothing suits banes character perfectly, the thick material and bold contrasting jacket/trousers/boot combo portrays enhanced strength and solidity to his demeanour, diminishing any form of weakness to his foes. The facial mask creates an incredible aura of fear and dominance to anyone that gets in his way.

 

Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill:

 

The bold yellow and black stripe biker jacket/trousers combo that Beatrix Kiddo wears in Kill Bill creates an almost instantaneous disturbance in the atmosphere when she enters the room. Her dark blonde hair and cold stern blood covered face screams revenge in every direction the ‘Black Mamba’ turns. A fantastically unique outfit that echo’s no mercy in the halls of repentance.

 

And finally..

 

Darth Vadar from Star Wars:

 

This is one of my all time favourite costumes. The relentless darkness that surrounds Darth Vader’s outfit is absolutely incredible, from his metallic armor pieces and robotic chest/waist/boots combo to the hellish facial mask and red lightsabre weapon epitomises evil itself and shows he is not a force to be reckoned with. You will join the dark side..

 

Thank you for reading!

Flashzebra Clothing

 

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: New Look

New Look was founded by Tom Singh. Since then the company has rapidly expanded and now operates across a chain of over 1,000 stores internationally and a staff of over 30,000. The group had a turn over of £1,147 million in y/e 2008 with profits of £180 million.

In 2008, New Look continued its expansion in the GBE and opened its largest store till then in Chicago One Shopping Centre. In February 2009, its 40th anniversary year, it opened its first store in Russia.

In July 2010, New Look opened its 3hunna flagship store in Glasgow Fort Shopping Park. The store is a massive 18,000 sq ft (1,700 m²). It was built on the site of a former Borders store.

The largest New Look store in the world opened in Dublin, Ireland on November 4, 2010 located at the Jervis Shopping Centre. It is the 29th New Look store in Ireland.

In 2004, after six years afloat, the company withdrew from the stock market and was taken back to being a privately owned business by founder Tom Singh and chief executive Phil Wrigley, and private equity investors Permira, Apax Partners and Quillian Investments.

Information taken from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Look_(company)#History

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: Ben Sherman

The company was founded in 1963 by Arthur Benjamin Sugarman (1925-1987), who was born in Brighton. He emigrated to the United States in 1946, via Canada, and changed his nationality to American. He married the daughter of a Californian clothes producer and later returned to Brighton, where he bought a shirt factory.

He lived in Ditchling Road with his family opposite Hollingbury Park near the golf course. Sugarman had realised that early 1960s London-based modern jazz fans were eagerly buying the Oxford-cloth American button-down shirt brands such as Brooks Brothers, Arrow, and Hathaway, that were worn by visiting American jazz artists like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Oscar Peterson. At the time, these were only available from official importers who had in effect, cornered this market.

Sugarman decided to produce a version of these shirts, along with a collection of the colourful, resort-wear vacation clothes that were growing in popularity, in both the U.S. and Mediterranean Europe. Mods responded, especially as Sugarman was using higher-quality materials and stitching detail than the imported shirts. The Ben Sherman Originals label was created, and by 1965, the company had opened a small office on the upper floors of an office-block in a London backstreet. This acted as the showroom for their shirt and beachwear collections. The first Ben Sherman store was opened in Brighton in 1967.

Sugarman sold his business in 1975 and moved to Australia. The company passed through a number of hands in the following years. In 1993, British investor 3i backed a management buyout of Ben Sherman Limited from Northern Ireland based Dunkeld fashion group, then in receivership, for 4 million pounds which resulted in the creation of the Sherman Cooper Group. In 2000, 3i financed a second management-buyout that created Ben Sherman PLC. In mid-2004, Oxford Industries Inc. of Atlanta purchased the Ben Sherman brand for 80 million British pounds (then $146 million) from 3i and Irish venture capital company Enterprise Equity.

The Ben Sherman womenswear and childrenswear collections that existed in the 2000s were discontinued by Oxford Industries in 2010. On 11 October 2010, the Ben Sherman opened a store at №39 Savile Row. In 2011, the company launched its Plectrum collection of better menswear. On 31 October 2011, Ben Sherman launched its new eCommerce website.

Information taken from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Sherman

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: Reiss

The Reiss story began in 1971, Bishopsgate, London, when David Reiss opened his first store selling men’s suits. With more stores opening throughout the 80s and 90s, Reiss steadily grew into a successful UK menswear business renowned for excellent tailoring.

With stores spanning the country, it was in September 2000 that Reiss moved into womenswear for the very first time, and stepped into its stride as an aspirational brand appealing to both men and women. Alongside this important milestone was the launch of our Market Place store in London, which became our new 7000sqft flagship.

By 2005, Reiss was well-established in the UK, and in March of that year a 5000sqft flagship store was opened on West Broadway, New York, followed later that year by its first franchised store in Dubai.

In 2007 Reiss launched its fully-transactional UK website and opened flagship stores in both Los Angeles and Barrett Street, London. Located on North Robertson Boulevard, the 12,000sqft L.A. store provided the States with a Reiss on the West coast of the country. While Barrett Street in London, our most iconic store to date, soon became our head office and atelier standing proudly in the heart of London’s west end.

With many more UK and international stores opening during this time, it was in 2010 that Reiss saw a distinct move towards a more luxury approach with its UK Personal Tailoring service launching in flagship stores. 2010 also saw Kate Middleton wear Reiss for one of her official engagement portraits, sending the brand to stratospheric new heights.

With yet more worldwide openings in 2011 and Kate (now the Duchess of Cambridge) choosing to wear Reiss again, the Reiss story continues..

 

Information taken from:

http://www.reiss.com/explore/history/

 

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: H&M

In 1946 the company’s founder Erling Persson was on a trip to the United States and came up with the business idea of offering fashionable clothing at attractive prices.

In 1947 he opened his first shop Västerås, Sweden “Hennes”, which exclusively sold women’s clothing. “Hennes” is Swedish and means “for her” and/or “hers”.

In 1968 the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss was acquired, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range and the name change to “Hennes & Mauritz” (H&M).

In 1998, the company successfully gained control over the initials “HM” for its Internet domain HM.com.

In November 2004, selected company stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The press reported large crowds and that the initial inventories in the larger cities were sold out within an hour, although the clothes were still available in less-fashion-sensitive areas until the company redistributed them to meet with demand.

In November 2005, the company launched a collection by Stella McCartney and, in November 2006, by avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf.

In March 2007, it launched another collaboration designed by the pop star Madonna.
In June 2007 the company worked with game developers Maxis to create a stuff pack for the latter’s The Sims 2 computer game, H&M Fashion Stuff.

In November 2007, the company launched a collection by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. It was reported that the clothing sold out very quickly. Also in 2007, another design with Kylie Minogue was launched in Shanghai, China.

In the spring of 2008 the Finnish company Marimekko was selected as guest designer and was followed by Japanese Comme des Garçons in the fall.

For spring and summer 2009, the British designer Matthew Williamson created two exclusive ranges for the company – the first being a collection of women’s clothes released in selected stores. The second collection saw Williamson branch into menswear for the first time, only in selected stores. The second collection also featured swimwear for men and women and was available in every company store worldwide.

On 14 November 2009, the company released a limited-edition diffusion collection by Jimmy Choo featuring shoes and handbags, ranging from £30 to £170 including a range of men’s shoes. The collection also included clothing designed by Choo for the first time, many garments made from suede and leather, and was available in 200 stores worldwide, including London’s Oxford Circus store.
Sonia Rykiel also collaborated with the company, by designing a ladies knitwear and lingerie range that was released in selected company stores on 5 December 2009.

For Fall 2010, the company collaborated with French fashion house Lanvin for its 2010 guest designer.

For Spring/Summer 2011, the company collaborated with fashion blogger Elin Kling, which was available at selected stores only.

In June 2011, H&M announced a collaboration plan with Versace, that was released on November 19. Versace also planned a Spring collaboration with H&M that was only be available in countries with online sales.

In November 2011, H&M announced a collaboration plan with Marni, that launched in March 2012. The campaign was directed by award-winning director Sofia Coppola.

On 4 October 2012, Japanese Vogue editor Anna Dello Russo will launched an accessories collection at H&M as Paris Fashion Week drew to an end. The collection was stocked in 140 H&M stores worldwide and also sold through the H&M website.

On June 12, 2012 H&M confirmed that it will launch a collaboration with avant-garde label Maison Martin Margiela for a fall rollout. The Maison Martin Margiela collection for H&M hit stores on November 15, 2012.

Isabel Marant was a collaboration designer for Fall 2013 and for the first time made a men’s collection to accompany the women’s collection. The collaboration was sold out very quickly in cities across the globe and was heavily anchored in sales online as well.

Alexander Wang was announced as a collaboration to be released November 6, 2014 across the world to a select 250 stores. The announcement came during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California and will be the first collaboration with an American designer.

Beyoncé was the face of H&M in summer 2013. Her campaign, which began in May 2013 was entitled “Mrs. Carter in H&M”, and drew heavily on Knowles’ personal style.

Information taken from:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%26M#History

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: Abercrombie and Fitch

The company was originally established as Abercrombie Co. by David Abercrombie on June 4, 1892, in a small waterfront shop at 36 South Street in downtown Manhattan, New York. Wealthy New York businessman Ezra Fitch became one of the store’s regular customers. In 1900, Fitch bought a major share in the growing Abercrombie Company and thus joined as co-founder. Abercrombie Co. later moved into larger quarters at 314 Broadway, and Fitch began to implement experimental ideas to renovate the store. In 1904, Fitch’s surname was added to Abercrombie’s and so the official name became Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

The partnership between Abercrombie and Fitch did not end happily. The two men, with different visions for the future of A&F, quarreled frequently, although the company continued to prosper. Fitch wished to expand the company’s appeal to the general public, while Abercrombie wanted to continue selling professional gear to professional outdoorsmen. As a result of the disagreement, Abercrombie sold his share in the company to Fitch in 1907 and returned to manufacturing outdoor goods. Fitch continued the business with other partners and directed the company as he pleased.

The Fitch Years
In 1909, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. mailed over 50,000 copies of its 456 page catalog worldwide (a staggering and costly amount of publication at that time, since each cost a dollar to produce). The catalog featured outdoor clothing, camping gear, articles, and advice columns. The cost of the catalog nearly bankrupted the company, but the catalog proved to be a profitable marketing device. Within the store, the catalog was available to customers for free.

By 1910, the company began selling women’s clothing, and became the first store in New York to supply clothing to women as well as men.

In 1913, after moving into Reade Street, which was not a convenient shopping location for women, the store relocated to a more fashionable and easily accessible midtown address near Fifth Avenue at 55/57 West 36th Street, expanding its inventory to include sportswear.

In 1917, the store moved again into a twelve-story building at the corner of Madison Avenue and East 45th Street. The store occupied the entire available space (12 stories).

The Madison Avenue store included many different amenities. The basement housed a shooting range while on the mezzanine (main floor) paraphernalia for skiing, archery, sky-diving, and lawn games were sold. The second through fifth floors were reserved for clothing that was suitable for different climate or terrains. On the sixth floor were a picture gallery, a bookstore (focused on sporting themes), a watch repair facility and a golf school (fully equipped with a resident professional). The seventh floor included a gun room with hundreds of shotguns and rifles, decorated with stuffed game heads, as well as a kennel for dogs and cats. The eighth floor contained fishing, camping, and boating equipment and included a desk for a fly-and-bait casting instructor who gave lessons at the pool, which was located on the roof. The fishing section alone was stocked with over 48,000 flies and over 18,000 fishing lures.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. became the first American store to import Mahjong. Ezra Fitch imported the game after a female customer looked for the game that she had played in China. He went to China for the game and translated the instructions into English. Mahjong became a fast selling product, and Abercrombie & Fitch became the epicenter of the Mahjong craze. The company sent emissaries to Chinese villages to buy as many Mahjong sets as possible and eventually sold over 12,000 sets.

In 1927, Abercrombie & Fitch outfitted Charles Lindbergh for his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean. It also attracted the business of other prominent figures.

Entering into the 21st century, Abercrombie & Fitch was rated as the sixth most popular brand before Nintendo and Levi’s by teenagers. The company introduced its third brand, Hollister Co., in July 2000. The third concept was based on Southern California surf lifestyle, and was targeted towards high school students. After Hollister lowered the revenue of Abercrombie & Fitch, the company launched the Ezra Fitch collection, and began producing A&F clothing with higher grade materials, increasing the prices.

In 2001, the company moved into a new 300-acre (1.2 km2) home office in New Albany, Ohio. Headquarters were further expanded by 2003.

Information taken from:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Abercrombie_%26_Fitch

Flashzebra Clothing’s History of Designers: Joules

Following on from his father, in 1999 Tom Joules purchased 80% of the business and began selling country county clothing at equestrian and country events across Great Britain.

It was Tom Joules decided that the Country Clothing his customers were wearing didn’t reflect their personalities. He believed that people who live in the country are colourful people and should be wearing Country Clothing that accurately reflected their personalities.

Tom Joules then made 100 bright pink wellies to sell at his country and equestrian events. They sold extremely well.

With uncannily bad timing, the foot-and-mouth crisis hit the UK farming industry, shortly after Joule remortgaged his house to place a £100,000 clothes order. The shows were cancelled and he had little choice but to knock on the doors of rural clothing stores to sell the stock.

That was in February 2001; by summer the same year the stores were coming back for more. Six years later, the 50-plus country and equestrian events that the company still attends account for £1.5m of sales.

Joules clothing is now well known for bold colour and individual style while still looking to the countryside for inspiration.

Joules Clothing has strong routes in the rural town of Market Harborough where their first shop and head office is based.

Joules are incredibly proud of their country heritage and enjoy the lifestyle that comes with living in the countryside. It’s this Country lifestyle that inspires Joules’ unique and often eccentric country clothing. Joules clothing also dabbles in nautical themes inspired by our British coastline.

Information taken from:

http://m.drapersonline.com/760931.article
http://www.countryclothingdirect.com/joules-clothing/