Laura Ashley
You are here: Laura Ashley > Laura Ashley Home and Fashion
We created the site homeandfashion.store-index.com to make shopping quick and easy for people who know what they want from Laura Ashley (such as Home and Fashion). You can easily see, with helpful images, the full list of Laura Ashley sections, which are:
in Fashion: Tops, Knitwear, Blouses, Skirts, Trousers, Dresses, Jackets, Coats, Shoes & Socks, Jewellery, Scarves & Hats, Bags, Wallets & Belts
in Home Furnishings: Upholstery, Sofas & Chairs, Mirrors, Cabinets, Bedlinen & Bedspreads, Curtains & Accessories, Rugs & Runners, Wallpapers, Cushions & Throws, Fabrics, Lighting, Children's Rooms
Or you can search the entire Laura Ashley product range by keyword (Such as Home and Fashion)
Laura Ashley's name is synonymous with style, and this is reflected in our exciting product range
Laura Ashley
You searched for Laura Ashley and you can be sure to find everything Laura Ashley related here at Laura Ashley's store index, whether it's for you, or a gift for a friend, colleague or loved-one. Browse our categories above for Home and Fashion, or do a full product search for Laura Ashley Home and Fashion by typing in "Laura Ashley Home and Fashion" in the search box above. We're confident that we'll be able to find you the Laura Ashley item you're looking for, however please take some time to browse the full Laura Ashley store
You can be sure that whatever you buy from Laura Ashley will be of the very best quality, available at a great price and will be with you shortly, thanks to Laura Ashley's first-class delivery service. We are very proud of our Home and Fashion and our entire range, and hope that you enjoy shopping with Laura Ashley and your new Laura Ashley item once it arrives.
Laura Ashley
It was Audrey Hepburn who inadvertently sparked the growth
of one of the world's best-loved and most successful fashion and furnishing
companies. Audrey appeared alongside Gregory Peck in the 1953 film "Roman
Holiday", sporting a headscarf and so creating a style that became an instant
hit around the globe. It was at exactly that time that a young couple, Laura
Ashley and Bernard Ashley, were starting to produce headscarves as well as
tablemats and napkins on their kitchen table in a flat in Pimlico. The Ashley's
had invested £10 in wood for the screen frame, dyes and a few yards of linen.
The scarves were an instant success with stores such as John Lewis and Heal's
and put them on the road to becoming an international company with a brand that
is recognised around the globe. The inspiration to start producing printed
fabric had come from a Women's Institute display of traditional handicrafts at
the Victoria & Albert Museum. When Laura Ashley looked for small patches
carrying Victorian designs to help her make patchworks, she found no such things
existed. Here was an opportunity. Laura Ashley designed the prints and Bernard
Ashley built the printing equipment, so forging a complementary partnership that
was to give the company its unique strength throughout the years. Laura Ashley
remained in charge of design until shortly before her death, while Bernard
Ashley handled the operational side.
Laura Ashley - the early days
In its early days, the company was known as Ashley Mountney
but Bernard changed the name to Laura Ashley because he felt a woman's name was
more appropriate for the type of products they were making, such as Home and Fashion. The couple moved
from inner London to Kent in 1955. Their business was nearly wiped out in 1958,
when the river Darent overflowed, leaving equipment, dyes and fabrics floating
in three feet of water. Times were hard for the Ashley family (by now Laura had
given birth to three of their four children), because every penny of profit was
being poured back into the business. Meanwhile, more products were beginning to
appear under the Laura Ashley name, including aprons, oven gloves, Home and Fashion and gardening
smocks. Turnover rose from £2,000 to £8,000 in 1960. The next year, the family
moved to Wales, the country where Laura Ashley was born and had spent much of
her childhood. Originally, the company was located in a vacant social club in
the small village of Carno, Montgomeryshire. In 1967, however, the factory moved
across to the village's railway station which had closed two years earlier.
Within those early years, the foundations of the company were set. Bernard
Ashley had developed his flat-bed printing process to produce 5,000 metres of
fabric per week and - most crucially - in 1966, Laura Ashley produced her first
dress for social rather than work attire and started making Home and Fashion. The long length silhouette was to
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.
Laura Ashley - getting bigger
By 1970, sales
had reached £300,000 per year, with further shops opening in Shrewsbury and
Bath. In one week alone, London's Fulham Road site sold 4,000 dresses (and Home and Fashion) and
received an extra fillip when a newspaper suggested that by donning a Laura
Ashley number, women could look as beautiful in their Home and Fashion as Catherine Ross in "Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid". A licensing operation led to the opening of department
store concessions in Australia, Canada and Japan in 1971, while domestic
expansion continued unabated. The first Laura Ashley shop in Paris was a
sell-out from day one of trading in 1974. The same year, Laura Ashley made its
grand entrance into the USA with the opening of a store in San Francisco. It was
the Paris shop, however, which was the first to feature the distinctive green
frontage and stripped wooden interior. By 1975, turnover was a staggering £5
million per year and the company employed 1,000 people worldwide. Laura Ashley
turned down the offer from Buckingham Palace of an OBE (she was upset Bernard
had not been offered one) but a Queen's Award for Export was gladly accepted in
1977. Turnover continued to shoot off the top of the graph, reaching £25 million
as Laura Ashley celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1979 with the launch of a
range of perfumes. By now the couple had relocated to France although constant
air travel - Bernard Ashley was an accomplished pilot - kept them in touch with
their family and worldwide business. Laura Ashley shifted her attention from
clothes back to fabrics and the company launched its home furnishings
collections, which have grown in importance for the company today as global
markets respond to strong home and fashion trends.
Laura Ashley - a tragedy
However, tragedy was to strike without warning. In 1985, on
her 60th birthday, while she was visiting her children in the UK, Laura Ashley
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.
Just two months later, Laura Ashley Holdings plc went public in a flotation that
was 34 times oversubscribed. The late 80s saw the knighthood of Sir Bernard
Ashley, the opening of prestigious retail sites in London, the launch of the
"Mother and Child" collection and "Laura Ashley Home", a range of exclusive home
furnishings. Laura Ashley celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1993, the same year
that Sir Bernard retired as chairman and became honorary president, a position
which he held until 1998. Over recent years the company has successfully
weathered the worldwide recession. However, in May 1998, MUI Asia Limited became
a major shareholder in Laura Ashley and remain committed to returning Laura
Ashley to prosperity. Under the leadership of the Chief Executive Ms Lillian
Tan, this world famous international brand is profitable once again. The overall
strategy is to focus on modernising the brand whilst remaining true to Laura
Ashley's brand values. Key motivators include product development to meet the
needs of target customers through focusing on signature product ranges.
Investment in stores with an extensive refit programme in the UK and in Europe,
and an effective communications strategy has been put into place to articulate
the brand image. The brand strategy has provided a solid base upon which the
company is progressing.
Laura Ashley
If you are interested in purchasing any Laura Ashley Products (including Home and Fashion), simply browse the rest
of the Laura Ashley website by using the top menu items.
