Laura Ashley

Laura Ashley CBE, (7 September 1925 - 17 September 1985) was a British designer, born Laura Mountney in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. She became a household name on the strength of her work as a designer and manufacturer of a range of colourful fabrics for clothes and home furnishings.

Career

Audrey Hepburn inadvertently sparked the growth of one of the world's most successful fashion and home furnishing companies. Hepburn appeared alongside Gregory Peck in the 1953 film Roman Holiday, wearing a headscarf. As such a fashion icon, she instantly craeted a style that became an instant hit around the globe.

In a flat in Pimlico, London a young couple, Laura and Bernard Ashley, were starting to produce headscarves as well as table mats and napkins on their kitchen table in a flat in Pimlico. They had invested £10 in wood for the screen frame, dyes and a few yards of linen. Laura's inspiration to start producing printed fabric came from a Women's Institute display of traditional handicrafts at the Victoria & Albert Museum. When Laura looked for small patches carrying Victorian designs to help her make patchworks, she found no such things existed. Here was an opportunity.

The scarves were an instant success with stores such as John Lewis, and resultantly put them on the road to becoming an international company with a brand that is recognised around the globe. Laura designed the prints and Bernard built the printing equipment, so forging a complementary partnership that was to give the company its unique strength throughout the years. Laura remained in charge of design until shortly before her death, while Bernard handled the operational side.

Originally registered as Ashley Mountney (Laura's maiden name), Sir Bernard changed the name to Laura Ashley because he felt a woman's name was more appropriate for the type of products.

The company moved to Kent in 1955, but the business was nearly wiped out in 1958, when the river Darent overflowed - leaving equipment, dyes and fabrics floating in three feet of water. Turnover rose from £2,000 to £8,000 in 1960, and in light of the borth of the third of their four children, the family moved to Wales in 1961, the country where Laura was born and had spent much of her childhood. Originally located in the social club in Carno, Montgomeryshire; in 1967 the factory moved across to the village's railway station.

These were crucial times in the development of the company - Bernard had developed his flat-bed printing process to produce 5,000 metres of fabric per week, and in 1966 Laura produced her first dress for social rather than work attire. The long length silhouette become the Laura Ashley trademark. It also was to work successfully in the company's favour as fashion switched from the mini to the maxi skirt at the end of the 1960's - a newspaper suggested that by donning a Laura Ashley number, women could look as beautiful as Catherine Ross in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

By 1970, sales had reached £300,000 per year, with shops opened in Shrewsbury and Bath. In one week alone, London's Fulham Road shop sold 4,000 dresses - which resulted in the new factory in Newtown, Montgomeryshire. It was the opening of the Paris shop in 1974 which was the first to feature the distinctive green frontage and stripped wooden interior, and in the same year the first USA shop opened in San Francisco. A licensing operation led to the opening of department store concessions in Australia, Canada and Japan from 1971 onwards.

By 1975, turnover was £5million per year and the company employed 1,000 people worldwide. Laura turned down the offer of an OBE (she was upset Bernard had not been offered one) but a Queen's Award for Export was accepted in 1977. Turnover reached £25million as Laura Ashley celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1979 with the launch of a range of perfume. The addition of a home in France enabled Laura to go back to her roots of fabric design, and the company launched its home furnishings collections.

2months after Laura's tragic death in 1985, Laura Ashley Holdings plc went public in a flotation that was 34 times oversubscribed. The 1980's saw the knighthood of Sir Bernard Ashley, and the launch of additional child and home furnishings ranges. Laura Ashley celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1993, the same year that Sir Bernard retired as chairman and became honorary life president. The Ashley family retain an interest in the business and it's development.

MUI Asia takeover

In May 1998, MUI Asia Limited became a major shareholder in Laura Ashley Holdings plc and under the new management, this world famous international brand was back in profit. Rescued from the receivers in 1998, 58 per cent of the shares are believed to be controlled directly or indirectly by the company's chairman Dr Koo Kay Peng.

But the company failed to capitalise on its trademark look - probably due to employing its 11th chief executive in 14 years. It closed it's flagship store on London's Regent Street in late 2005 because of rent increases, and in March 2005 it launched a £28m law suit against L'Oreal, which manufactured the Laura Ashley perfumes. At Christmas 2004, the chain parted company with couture designer Alistair Blair, who had previously designed for Dior and Givenchy.

Lillian Tan, who has been chief executive since January, plans to reduce fashion from 22 per cent of sales to 14 per cent this year - with stores cutting back the space they give to clothes in favour of home furnishings, now the most profitable part of the business.

Personal life

Laura and Sir Bernard (married 1949), were a great compliment to each other - both inside the business, and in their personal life. Laura had four children, and loved family life, but the expansion of the business meant the need for an escape point, and for creativity. They bought a house in France in the early 1970's, and kept in touch with the family and business through flying, with Sir Bernard's accomplished skills as a pilot.

In 1985, on her 60th birthday, while she was visiting her children in the UK, Laura fell down the stairs and was rushed to hospital where she died ten days later. It was an appalling, senseless loss but her name lives on through her business. She is buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist, in Carno, Powys, Wales.

External links

• Laura Ashley company
• National gallery portraits