Aquascutum
| Aquascutum International Licensing Ltd
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Limited Company |
| founding | 1851 |
| Seat | London , UK |
| management | Andrew Chan |
| Number of employees | 135 |
| sales | £ 10.2 million |
| Branch | Clothing and accessories |
| Website | www.aquascutum.co.uk |
Aquascutum London is an internationally known fashion company founded in London in 1851 , which sells clothing and accessories in the upper price segment.
Over time, the waterproof trench coats and raincoats of the early years developed into a complete range of upscale women's and men's clothing as well as children's fashion, which was popular with the British royal family and Hollywood stars , among others . A trademark of Aquascutum is a protected glencheck design .
The family business with its own shops was sold to a Japanese textile company in 1990 , bought back by British investors in 2009 and finally sold to the Chinese licensee of the brand for the Asian region in 2012 after filing for bankruptcy .
Company history
19th century: founding years
In 1851 the British tailor John Emary opened a men's outfitter shop for upscale men's clothing on 46 Regent Street in London . In 1853 he patented a woolen material he had developed himself with waterproof properties, from which he made trench coats and raincoats, and from then on he called his company Aquascutum (from Latin : aqua (water) and scutum ( protective shield )). The company's logo today features a coat of arms with a shield bearing the Latin inscription “ In hoc scuto fidemus ” (German: We trust this shield ). In the 1870s, John Emary and his son John Ledbury Emary sold the company to the London-based textile company Scantlebury & Commin . The then Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII ordered Aquasctum coats at the end of the 19th century and in a Royal Warrant in 1897 made the company the official purveyor to the British royal family. Aquascutum clothing subsequently established itself among the British upper class as elegant leisure and sportswear.
20th century: worldwide expansion
In 1901, on Ernest Commins' initiative, Aquascutum moved to 100 Regent Street in London, where the company's flagship store was located until the property was sold in 2011 (since then an Austin Reed branch). Aquascutum produced coats and clothing for the British armed forces as early as the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856) and subsequently, similar to the competitor Burberry established in 1856 , especially during the two world wars . This developed over the years, complete collections for ladies and men's clothing, the Aquascutum women's fashion, first in the 1890s, almost 40 years after the company launched was. As a result, around 1900 a women's clothing department was opened on Regent Street. The then Prince of Wales and later King George V awarded in 1901 and 1911 Royal Warrants of Aquascutum, as 1920 Edward VIII. In 1914, in the time of World War I , the company presented a double-breasted coat with belt and removable lining , which in the Soldiers enjoyed great popularity.
In the 1920s, international expansion began with the opening of the Japanese market. In 1932 Aquascutum was sold to the entrepreneur Isidore Abrahams, who from then on ran the company with his two sons. From the late 1940s, Aquascutum was associated with Hollywood stars such as Humphrey Bogart , Greta Garbo and Cary Grant, as well as politicians such as Winston Churchill , all of whom contributed to the company's reputation . The Queen Mother also appointed Aquascutum as purveyor to the court several times, most recently in 1952. Due to further technical innovations in the textile sector, the brand's clothing was also used in expeditions to Mount Everest or the South Pole in the 1950s .
In the 1960s and 1970s, a heyday for Aquascutum, the company expanded greatly, expanding and rejuvenating the collections. The Club Check , the Aquascutum check pattern in glencheck style, found its way into men's collections at the end of the 1970s. In the 1980s, Aquascutum stores were opened worldwide, for example in the USA, Canada, France, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore. From 1987 Margaret Thatcher made Aquascutum her official outfitter. Sean Connery and Sophia Loren were prominent Aquascutum fans.
In 1990 the Japanese textile company Renown Inc. (founded in 1902) bought the majority of shares in the listed company Aquascutum Group PLC for 20 billion yen (then approx. 120 million US dollars) following a friendly takeover offer with the consent of the Abrahams family . In the 1990s, the Club Check was emphasized more in the collections and Aquascutum became the official supplier of the British Olympic team at the Olympic Games in 1994 and 1996 .
21st Century: Troubled Times and Selling
The British designers Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler had been employed by Aquascutum since 2000 and 2002 respectively, and they kept creative leadership until 2010 when they switched to Bally . Under the leadership of British businesswoman Kim Winser, who had already saved the Pringle of Scotland brand from 2000 , celebrities such as Pierce Brosnan , Gisele Bündchen and Jamie Dornan were used as advertising media for Aquascutum from 2006 onwards . Still, Aquascutum reported a loss of £ 24m in 2008. Winser unsuccessfully offered to take over the company through a management buyout and left Aquascutum in 2009.
In 2009, British entrepreneur Harold Tillman and former Debenhams CEO Belinda Earl bought Aquascutum back from Renown Inc. Tillman had owned the British luxury clothing brand Jaeger since 2002 ( founded in London in 1884 based on the teaching of Gustav Jäger ) and Earl had been CEO of the company since 2004 . With the purchase, however, the lucrative license rights for the Asian region (China, Japan, South Korea and India) remained for a sum of 13.7 million pounds with the Chinese licensee YGM Trading , based in Hong Kong . YGM Trading had already offered to buy Aquascutum in its entirety. At the time, Aquascutum had 340 employees, 120 of whom worked in its own production facility in Corby . For the first time Aquascutum fashion was presented at London Fashion Week. Joanna Sykes - a former designer for Giorgio Armani and Alberta Ferretti - was hired as chief designer at Aquascutum, which now suffered from an outdated image and, although still a traditional British brand, was viewed as rather old-fashioned. The new owners managed to rejuvenate Aquascutum's image and expand the portfolio to include a licensed golf collection , but sales still fell short of expectations. The company's losses in 2010 totaled over £ 17 million. In 2011 Aquascutum celebrated its 160th anniversary. In the same year, a five-year license agreement for Aquascutum clothing (“Made in Italy”) for continental Europe and the Middle East was concluded with the Italian clothing manufacturer Ittierre SpA . Belinda Earl resigned from her position as CEO of Aquascutum in March 2012 due to health problems.
In April 2012, it was announced that Tillman had sold the Jaeger brand to the investment company Better Capital for almost £ 20 million in order to protect the Jaeger company and its employees from creditors' claims against the Aquascutum company. The next day Aquascutum filed for bankruptcy. The Corby factory, where the brand's “Made in England” items were made, was closed. At the beginning of May 2012 Aquascutum was sold by the insolvency administrator FRP Advisory for 15 million pounds to the Chinese licensee YGM Trading, which also owns the brands J Lindeberg and Guy Laroche . Joanna Sykes left Aquascutum in June 2012 and switched to British fashion brand Nicole Farhi. YGM Trading also acquired the former licensee for the Aquascutum golf collection and installed the British Tim Dally as CEO of Aquascutum in mid-May 2012. A license for the Japanese market remained with Renown Inc.
Critics criticized the fact that Aquascutum - in contrast to British competitors such as Burberry, Mulberry or Barbour , which in some cases has now almost achieved cult status due to extensive advertising campaigns - has failed to establish itself as a 'cool' traditional brand with a British identity, including that of young people What buyers want is:
"The Burberry trench coat, designed by the designer Christopher Bailey , is worn by Victoria Beckham , Emma Watson and Kate Middleton - while the Aquascutum trench coat has not been worn by anyone since Margaret Thatcher "
As of 2012, there were two Aquascutum stores in London ( Westfield London and Canary Wharf ), one in Windsor ( Royal Shopping Center ) as well as 16 sales areas in British department stores such as Harrods and seven outlet stores . In addition, there were 11 Aquascutum boutiques worldwide . After the takeover by YGM Trading, numerous Auquascutum boutiques of the former licensee in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao were added to the Aquascutum network. At the end of 2013, YGM Trading opened an Aquascutum flagship store in central London, across from the luxury department store Liberty, in which 800,000 pounds had been invested.
In 2013 Thomas Harvey, who had already worked for the company for several seasons from 2007, was appointed Aquascutum men's fashion designer. Harvey was replaced by designer Te Dinh Sy in mid-2016. In early 2015, Kasha Crampton was named an Aquascutum women's fashion designer. At the beginning of 2017, Dinh Sy also took over the management of women's fashion.
In March 2017, YGM Trading sold the company to the Chinese textile company Shandong Ruyi for US $ 117 million.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aquascutum to close Corby factory with loss of 115 jobs The Guardian , April 19, 2012
- ↑ Aquascutum reports increase in turnover as losses grow FashionMag, January 11, 2016
- ↑ Aquascutum slips into bankruptcy ( Memento of the original from November 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , fabeau.de, April 19, 2012
- ↑ The traditional house Aquascutum , elle.de, accessed: May 20, 2012
- ^ Aquascutum secures financial lifeline , guardian.co.uk, July 31, 2011
- ^ Jaeger chief Harold Tillman buys fashion brand Aquascutum , guardian.co.uk, September 8, 2009
- ↑ Japan's Renown says may sell Britain's Aquascutum , reuters.com, October 6, 2008
- ↑ Japanese Clothing Firm Buys Britain's Aquascutum ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Washington Post via highbeam.com, April 24, 1990
- ^ Aquascutum bows out after heavy losses , ft.com, April 17, 2012
- ↑ Johanna Sykes for Aquascutum (sic) ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , fabeau.de, May 19, 2010
- ↑ Aquascutum launches golf collection ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , fabeau.de, June 18, 2010
- ↑ Aquascutum grants license to Ittierre , fashionmag.com, November 15, 2011
- ↑ Better Capital buys fashion brand Jaeger ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , fabeau.de, April 16, 2012
- ^ Aquascutum collapses into administration , ft.com, April 17, 2012
- ↑ China's YGM takes Aquascutum off the shelf , reuters.com, May 10, 2012
- ^ Tale of two Macs: Aquascutum goes bust while Burberry booms The Guardian, April 18, 2012
- ↑ /5055951.article?blocktitle=Shopwatch&contentID=11408 Shopwatch: Aquascutum ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , drapersonline.com, December 21, 2013
