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Austin Reed (retailer)

Austin Reed was a British fashion retailer founded in 1900; the brand was acquired by Edinburgh Woollen Mill in 2016.

NKVD officer Vladimir Pravdin wore an Austin Reed suit he purchased from the Regent Street store, abandoning it in a Swiss hotel as he fled after his 1937 assassination of Ignace Reiss.[1]

History

Austin Reed was founded by tailor Austin Leonard Reed (1873–1954).

Timeline

Austin Reed purchased retailer Country Casuals, rebranding it CC.

  • 1900 - First shop opened in Fenchurch Street
  • 1911 - Opening of flagship store in Regent Street
  • 1929 - First international outlet on the RMS Aquitania
  • 1930 - Opening of Regent Street Barber Shop
  • 1936 - Opening of a concession on the RMS Queen Mary
  • 1946 - Opening of a concession on the RMS Queen Elizabeth
  • 1940s - Winston Churchill was a customer
  • 1980s - Launch of Austin Reed's womenswear
  • 2000 - UK Manufacturing ended and Crewe factory closed[2]
  • 2005 - Kosugi-Sangyo was the Austin Reed ready-to-wear license holder in Japan[3]
  • 2009 - Austin Reed Group acquired Viyella brand
  • 2011 - Move from 103-113 Regent Street to 100 Regent Street
  • 2016 - Entered administration. Five concessions located in Boundary Mills outlet villages were retained by Edinburgh Woollen Mill.[4]

In popular culture

Austin Reed is mentioned as potential alternative employment by Captain Peacock on the British situation comedy, Are You Being Served.[5] Cast member John Inman had worked at Austin Reed as a tie clerk in the early 1950s.[6]

External links

References

  1. Steven Usdin. The Face of Soviet Espionage in the United States during the Stalin Era: Vladimir Pravdin, “Man of Truth” Journal of Cold War Studies, Spring 2024, retrieved 18 Jan 2025^
  2. Austin Reed is dressing in smart casual 6 April 2000, retrieved 14 December 2021^
  3. Chevalier, Michel. Luxury Brand Management John Wiley & Sons, 2012^
  4. Retailer Austin Reed enters administration Reuters, 26 April 2016, retrieved 15 May 2020^
  5. 05-04 The old order changes Are you being served transcripts, Foreverdreaming, retrieved 19 Jan 2025^
  6. Richard Webber. I'm Free! – The Complete Are You Being Served? Orion Books, 1999^