The Company
While working as a secretary and raising her first two children, she undertook some development work for the Women's Institute on quilt work. Taking up the craft she had learnt with her grandmother, part-time she designed headscarves, napkins, table mats and tea-towels which Bernard printed on a machine he had designed in an attic flat at 83 Cambridge Street, Pimlico.
The couple 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 thing existed. Here was an opportunity, and she started to print Victorian style headscarves in 1953.
The Ashleys' scarves quickly became successful with stores, retailing both via mail order and high street chains such as John Lewis - Bernard left his city job to print fabrics full time. This put them on the road to becoming an international company with a brand that is recognized around the globe. Laura designed the prints and Bernard built the printing equipment; Laura remained in charge of design until shortly before her death, while Bernard handled the operational side.
Employing staff to cope with the growth of sales, the company was originally registered as Ashley Mountney (Laura's maiden name), Bernard changed the name to Laura Ashley because he felt a woman's name was more appropriate for the type of products. The new company moved to Kent in 1955, but when the third of their four children was born, the family moved to Wales in 1961, the country where Laura was born and had spent much of her childhood.
Laura Ashley's first shop was opened in Machynlleth, Powys (35 Maengwyn Street) - it still trades as an interior design shop, and the Laura Ashley association is commemorated by a small plaque. The family lived above the shop for 6 years before moving to Carno, Powys.
In 1975 Laura turned down the offer of an OBE (she was upset Bernard had not been offered one). Her husband was knighted only after her death; hence she was always Mrs. Ashley.
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.
Two months after her death in 1985, Laura Ashley Holdings went public in a flotation that was 34 times oversubscribed.
Read more about this topic: Laura Ashley
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