DAKS

DAKS is a British luxury fashion house, founded in 1894 by Simeon Simpson in London. It is one of only 15 firms (out of 820) to have held royal warrants from three members of the Royal Family. Officially granted to DAKS' Simpson Piccadilly store in 1956 was the royal warrant of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, followed by that of the Queen in 1962 and Charles, Prince of Wales in 1982.

Worldwide, DAKS is exported to 30 countries and sold in over 2,000 speciality shops, major stores and concessions. Since 1991 the company is owned by Sankyo Seiko Co. Limited.[1]

Name DAKS

The name DAKS was introduced in 1935 for Simpson's new line of self-supporting trouser, and later expanded to suits.[2] While the company always used all caps for its trade mark name, others often wrote it Daks. Various stories for the origin of the name exist. Ashley Havinden, who worked on the brand's typeface, recalled in 1955 that the original name proposed was "Vacs", from vacation

History

Early years – S Simpson

In 1894 Simeon Simpson, aged 16, rented a room on Middlesex Street, East London, with the intention of setting up a business in bespoke tailoring, focused on high standard craftsmanship.[7] Several innovations of technology at the time were being introduced with machinery capable of making buttonholes and electric powered saws to cut many layers of fabric at once; Simpson saw the potential for such equipment for producing garments in higher quantities while still upholding quality tailoring techniques, aiming to improve ready-to-wear standards as no male or female professionals considered ready-to-wear to be suitable attire at the time.[8] Simpson's methods proved successful in speeding up the process and he set up several factories within London, which soon required expansion in its early years through popularity of the label.[8]

Alexander Simpson, his second son, joined the business aged 15 in 1917, and by 1929 had planned and opened a larger factory in Stoke Newington where production could be centralised, this again had to be enlarged a few years later.[8]

20th century – DAKS and Simpsons Piccadilly

With the continued growth of the company Alexander Simpson began to take more control of the business, and in 1935 DAKS tailored the first self-supporting trouser.[6] The trousers were available in many colours and fabrics that weren't generally associated with menswear. Soon after a DAKS womenswear line was released, using the patented waistband for skirting.[8]

At the turn of the 21st century when the company was acquired by Japanese group Sankyo Seiko Co. Limited in 1991, the S Simpson name was dropped and DAKS became the new brand name.[9]

The ease-of-wear of the trousers and how they allowed movement, as intended from Simpson's invention, led to DAKS being popular in sporting wear: kitting tennis, golf, motor racing and football players, and even for the British Olympic team in 1960.[7] The company was commissioned by the British Government at the time of the Second World War to produce military uniforms for officers in the Army, Navy, Royal Air Force and Women's Services.[10]

Simpsons of Piccadilly

Simeon Simpson's son Alexander Simpson founded Simpsons of Piccadilly.[8] The new building was designed by architect Joseph Emberton as a new and revolutionary retail establishment,[8] the shop front windows exhibited the first curved glass display in Great Britain and the largest in the world at the time,[8] these were designed so that no reflection would be cast to obscure the displays inside. The store opened in April 1936 by Sir Malcolm Campbell, the world-famous motor-racing driver.[8] and was known for its visual merchandising and window displays by László Moholy-Nagy, a former director from the Bauhaus school.[11] Alexander Simpson died the following year of leukaemia aged just 34.[8]

foundation	City of London, England (1894)
founder	Simeon Simpson
key people	Paul Dimond (deputy chairman) Luigi Veccia (creative director)
owner	Sankyo Seiko Co. Limited (since 1991)
hq location	London, UK Japan
industry	Fashion
products	Clothing Accessories
homepage	www.daks.com

Name DAKS

History

Early years – S Simpson

20th century – DAKS and Simpsons Piccadilly

Simpsons of Piccadilly

Royal warrants and house check

See also

External links

References

Simpsons of Piccadilly