Eton AB is a Swedish manufacturer of luxury men's shirts. It was founded in 1928 by David and Annie Petterson in the small village of Gånghester in Sweden. Eton is now a global brand, being sold in more than 1,500 stores in over 50 countries, with flagship stores in Stockholm, Frankfurt, London and New York.[2]
History
Early history
During the 1920s, Annie Petterson started to sew dresses in the family kitchen. When the Great Depression forced her husband David to close down the family sawmill, he joined his wife's quickly growing business. The company was originally called Syfabriken Special (Specialized Sewing Factory).[3] With an increasing focus on men's shirts, the company soon changed its name to Skjortfabriken Special (Specialized Shirt Factory).[2]
1950–2000
At the beginning of the 1950s, Skjortfabriken Special launched the so-called "Eton shirt", created with inspiration from the famous Eton College. In the mid-1950s, export started to Great Britain but since Skjortfabriken Special was difficult to pronounce for non-Swedes, "Eton" was adopted as the company name.[4]
In connection with the international expansion, a new and modern factory was built in Gånghester. The building still functions as the company headquarters. During the 1980s, Eton started working to offer high quality, premium shirts.[2]
In 1992, Eton presented, after a collaboration with Swiss experts, the world's first non-iron shirt in 100% cotton. The first reseller was the British department store Harrods, which sold more than 600 shirts the first week alone.[5]
2001–present
In 2012, family-owned Eton was acquired by the Swedish private equity firm Litorina.[6] In 2016, Swedish private equity group EQT AB became Eton's new owner.[7]
Key people
Hans Davidson, grandson to the founders Annie and David Petterson, was the CEO between 1989-2019. At the beginning of 2019, Eton announced that Hans Davidson, after more than 30 years as acting CEO, would step down and hand over the role to David Thörewik, former managing director at Weekday, one of the independent brands in the H&M group.[8]
Operations
Eton has its own branded stores in Europe and the United States, including an official online store. It is represented by more than 1500 resellers as of 2018, including department stores Harrods, Selfridges, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Harry Rosen Inc, Le Bon Marché, El Corte Inglés, La Rinascente and KaDeWe.
Besides its Gånghester headquarters, Eton has offices in Stockholm, Düsseldorf, Cantù, London, New York, and Atlanta. The turnover for 2018 was a record high, with double-digit growth.[9]
External links
References
- Mark Lane. Eton Shirts to open first airport store outside Scandinavia at Munich International The Moodie Davitt Report, 8 February 2019^
- Sven Raphael Schneide r. ETON Shirts – Swedish Shirtmaking At Its Best — Gentleman's Gazette www.gentlemansgazette.com^
- Eton Shirts Review: Scandi Supremos Union 22, 27 July 2017^
- About Eton | Eton Shirts US www.etonshirts.com, retrieved 2019-04-02^
- Umgås Staff. Eton: 90 Years Of Tradition Coupled With Modern Innovation And Design February 19, 2018, retrieved April 2, 2019^
- Eton selects Litorina as partner Litorina, May 30, 2012^
- FashionNetwork com, Cajsa Lykke Carlson. Eton bought by EQT VII FashionNetwork.com, 4 January 2016^
- 15 February 2019By Grace Whelan. Weekday CEO joins Eton Group Drapers, 15 February 2019^
- ETON NAMES NEW CEO February 15, 2019^