INTRODUCTION - AUSTIN REED GROUP LTD

The Austin Reed Group comprises four core businesses - Austin Reed, CC (the new name for Country Casuals), Viyella and International Licensing - and was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1920 until January 2007 when it returned to private ownership.

If you would like to know more about the Austin Reed, Viyella and CC product offerings please visit their own websites - www.austinreed.co.uk, www.ccfashion.co.uk and www.viyella.co.uk

    

From a single shop, Austin Reed has grown from a traditional retailer into a dynamic and progressive business, with outlets throughout the UK.

 

Austin Reed opened his first men’s tailoring store in 1900 in Fenchurch Street, London, having learnt “tricks of the trade” from American retailers and manufacturers. Within 11 years he opened an impressive flagship store, dedicated to tailoring, ready-to-wear clothing and grooming, in London’s premier shopping location - Regent Street.

Consumer demands and design trends have evolved dramatically over the past century. Austin Reed has shown commitment to innovation and readiness to respond to new market directions and retailing practices.

In 1925, recognising such an opportunity, Austin Reed took the revolutionary step of offering high quality, value-for-money ready-to-wear suits.                                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        In In the 1980’s the rise of the “power-dressed” businesswoman led to the development of a collection to meet the needs of this new breed of career woman.

The recent relaxation of dress codes and increased leisure time inspired the company to introduce its ‘reed’ label in 1998, offering contemporary smart casualwear in quality fabrics.

The Austin Reed brand has long been synonymous with quality tailoring, gaining international acclaim for technical and design innovation that seamlessly blends modernity and tradition. Today, Austin Reed offers both casual and formalwear, aimed at “successful men and women with the mind-set of a ‘thirty-something’”.

The flagship Regent Street store was refurbished during 2002 / 2003 and was re-launched in September 2003.

 

   

  

1970's - Country Casuals opens their first 5 shops in

Scotland within 1 week! Country Casuals was launched originally as part of the Coats Patons Group (now known as the Coats Viyella Group). Country Casuals hit the West End, opening a shop  within John Lewis on Oxford Street and were the first to offer a fully co-ordinated range of separates, (this was seen as quite revolutionary at the time). Just one year on, Country Casuals was busy making news in Europe, opening stores in Denmark and Germany, then in Holland the following year. Country Casuals and Austin Reed get together for the first time and the Country Casuals range is made available at all Austin Reed stores nationwide.

1980's - Things were going swimmingly until the recession of the late 80’s began to bite.Times were tough for retailers, but the future of Country Casuals was secured in 1989 by a management buyout team, intent on building a vibrant brand, totally focused on the customer. It worked. The new vision and timely change resulted in an exceptional increase in sales despite deep national recession.

1990's - Country Casuals venture into the world of television advertising making it one of the first retail fashion brands to do

so. The Country Casuals brand celebrated its 21st birthday in 1994 with the launch of a customer loyalty scheme. Another first among fashion brands, the scheme helped to increase customer loyalty by giving the company a greater understanding of their customers needs. This highly successful and popular scheme continues to grow and is a vital part of the business today.

Country Casuals was acquired by the Austin Reed Group in January 1998.

2000's - As part of the Austin Reed Group, Country Casuals continued to expand and by popular request in 2001 Country Casuals Petite was introduced, with creations designed specifically for woman of 5’3” and under.

2005 sees possibly the biggest change of all, with Country Casuals becoming CC. It’s much more than just a change of name. CC is the brand.

The name Viyella is based on the unusually-named valley road, Via Gellia, (the A5012) near Matlock, where in 1890 Hollins & Co acquired a mill used for the early production of Viyella. Hollins had started business in 1784 in Pleasley, about 20 miles away on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border. Later their offices were at Viyella House in Nottingham.

After a merger in 1961, Hollins became Viyella International, led by Joe Hyman, who in the next few years acquired a series of related companies, with Viyella growing to be one of the biggest textile businesses in the UK, owning 40 factories across the country. After a few years as Carrington Viyella and then Vantona Viyella, the company owning the brand became Coats Viyella (Coats Paton, now Coats plc), who in the 1980s built a new mill to produce Viyella cloth in Barrowford, Lancashire, but this was demolished in 1999. In the 21st century much of Coats manufacturing (now specialising in thread) has been moved abroad and it is no longer possible to buy Viyella fabric. Coats underwent major restructuring in 2002 and sold off its Viyella fashion retail business (and Jaeger) to entrepreneur Richard Thompson in 2003 for £1, who re-sold Viyella weeks later to venture capitalist Harris Watson. Viyella Ladieswear has since added home furnishings to its range of goods. The fashion chain entered Administration on the 7th January 2009 citing "an assessment of the current economic situation and the prospects for the future" as the cause.

INTERNATIONAL LICENSING

International expansion began in 1929 when Cunard selected Austin Reed to open a shop on the transatlantic liner, the Aquitania, reflecting the extent to which the company had established itself as the UK’s premier menswear retailer. This was followed by concessions on two great ships, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, in 1936 and 1946 respectively.

Further international expansion came in the 1960s when the first license was signed for the use of its brand in the US by Hart Marx. Today, Austin Reed has licensing agreements which operate in Europe, US, Japan, Russia, India and other Far East.

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