Laura Ashley (company) facts for kids

A Laura Ashley shop in Hong Kong.

Laura Ashley is a famous British company known for designing fabrics and home goods. It was started by Bernard and Laura Ashley in London in 1953. They first became famous for making headscarves in a Victorian style. A famous actress, Audrey Hepburn, even wore one in her movie Roman Holiday!

The company moved to Wales in 1961. It grew into a huge international business with over 500 stores. They sold clothes and many things for the home. After Laura Ashley passed away in 1985, the company became a public company. Their products are often called 'very English' in style. In 2020, the company faced financial difficulties. It was later bought by Gordon Brothers and started fresh.

The Story of Laura Ashley

Starting Small

Bernard Ashley met Laura Mountney at a youth club in Wallington, London. While Laura was a secretary and raising her first two children, she designed napkins, table mats, and tea-towels. Bernard printed these designs using a machine he built in their attic flat in Pimlico, London.

The couple invested just £10 to buy wood for a screen frame, dyes, and some linen fabric. Laura got the idea to print fabrics from a display of traditional crafts. She was looking for small Victorian-style fabric patches for her patchwork projects. When she couldn't find any, she saw a chance to create them herself. So, in 1953, she started printing Victorian-style headscarves.

Audrey Hepburn helped the company grow by accident! She wore a headscarf in her 1953 film Roman Holiday. Because she was such a fashion icon, her style quickly became popular worldwide. The Ashleys' scarves became very successful. They sold them through mail order and in big stores like John Lewis.

In 1953, Bernard left his city job. The couple began to expand their company, first called Ashley Mountney Ltd. Laura designed the prints, and Bernard built the printing equipment. This made them a strong team. Laura managed the designs, and Bernard handled how the business ran. As sales grew, they hired more staff. They changed the company name to Laura Ashley because Bernard felt a woman's name suited their products better.

Growing Bigger

The company moved to Kent in 1955. But in 1958, the River Darent flooded. This almost ruined their business, as equipment, dyes, and fabrics were floating in water.

By 1960, their sales grew from £2,000 to £8,000. They needed a new place. Laura suggested Wales because there was lots of space. One weekend, they drove up the new M4 Motorway and found a suitable house and shop in Machynlleth, Powys. It cost less than their savings.

The family moved to Wales in 1961. Their first shop opened at 35 Maengwyn Street. Today, it's still an interior design shop, and a small plaque remembers the Laura Ashley connection. The family lived above the shop for six years. Then they moved to Carno, Montgomeryshire.

The Ashleys' first factory in Wales was in the social club in Carno. In 1967, the factory moved to the village's old railway station. These were important times for the company. Bernard improved his printing process to make 5,000 meters of fabric each week. In 1966, Laura designed her first dress for everyday wear. The long, flowing style became the Laura Ashley trademark.

This style helped the company when fashion changed from mini skirts to maxi skirts in the late 1960s. A newspaper even suggested that wearing a Laura Ashley dress could make women look as beautiful as Katharine Ross in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Laura Ashley dresses from the 1970s on display in the Fashion Museum, Bath.

Opening Shops Worldwide

The first shop named Laura Ashley opened in South Kensington, London, in 1968. More shops opened in Shrewsbury and Bath in 1970. In just one week, their London shop sold 4,000 dresses! This led to a new factory in Newtown, Montgomeryshire.

In 1974, the Paris shop was the first to have the famous green front and wooden interior. That same year, the first U.S. shop opened in San Francisco. From 1971 onwards, Laura Ashley products also began to be sold in department stores in Australia, Canada, and Japan.

By 1975, the company's sales were £5 million per year. They employed 1,000 people around the world. Laura turned down an OBE award because her husband Bernard was not also offered the honor. However, they accepted a Queen's Award for Export in 1977. Sales reached £25 million in 1979, and they launched a perfume line.

Laura bought a home in France, which allowed her to focus on fabric design again. The company then launched its home furnishings collections. At one point, Laura Ashley was the biggest employer in north Powys, Wales. They had over 13,000 staff in 500 shops and 13 factories. In 1982, The Laura Ashley Book of Home Decorating was published.

By the time Laura Ashley passed away in 1985, the company had over 220 stores worldwide. It employed over 4,000 people and had annual sales of US$130 million. The New York Times described Ashley’s fashion style: "With their high necks, full skirts, mutton sleeves and lace and ruffle adornments, these dresses... solidified the ‘Laura Ashley look.’"

Laura Ashley as a Public Company

Two months after Laura Ashley's death in 1985, Laura Ashley Holdings plc became a public company. Many people wanted to buy shares, and it was 34 times more popular than expected. That same year, the first store in Japan opened in Tokyo. Bernard Ashley accepted a knighthood in 1987. In the same year, the company opened a new factory called Texplan for printing fabrics and wallpapers. They also launched new ranges for children and home furnishings.

In the early 1990s, Laura Ashley plc faced challenges. They had opened too many stores and relied on outside manufacturers, which became too expensive. In 1991, an American named James Maxmin became the CEO. He wanted to focus the company on its main business. He made changes to manufacturing and shipping.

One important step was working with FedEx. They aimed to deliver 99 percent of Laura Ashley's products to customers anywhere in the world within 48 hours. This replaced an old system where a T-shirt made in Hong Kong would go to a warehouse in Wales before going to a store in Japan.

In 1992, Laura Ashley made a profit for the first time since 1989. In 1993, profits were expected to reach £12 million. Laura Ashley plc celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1993. Sir Bernard retired as chairman and became an honorary life president. But in 1994, Maxmin suddenly resigned. He had big disagreements with Sir Bernard about the company's plans.

Over the next five years, four different people became CEO. They tried to fix the company's growing money problems. The company desperately needed new funding. In 1998, they found help from the Malaysian MUI Group. Laura Ashley closed its last factory in Wales in 1999.

New Management and Challenges

In May 1998, MUI Asia Limited became a major owner of Laura Ashley Holdings plc. Under their new management, the company started making a profit again. Dr. Khoo Kay Peng, the company's chairman, is believed to control 58 percent of the shares. As part of the rescue, the U.S. operations were sold for just $1 to a company also controlled by MUI. All retail stores in the U.S. later closed. Now, the Laura Ashley brand in the USA is mainly online.

Laura Ashley faced some difficulties in the early 2000s. In 2003, they closed all their North American stores to focus on the UK market. In 2004, things looked positive when they started working with Scottish designer Alistair Blair. The company then made a profit, especially from home furnishings sales, even though clothing sales still went down. However, the arrangement with Blair ended by the end of the year. Laura Ashley closed its main store in London in late 2005 because the rent was too high.

Despite these issues, the company seemed to be making more money before the 2007 Global Financial Crisis. Profits doubled from £6.1 million in 2005 to £12.2 million in 2006. This was their best performance since the MUI buyout. Both fashion and home accessories were strong areas for the company.

Some problems appeared as the Global Financial Crisis began. In 2009, the company was criticized for charging Irish customers more than UK customers for the same items. Laura Ashley explained why this happened. The next year, the company had a difficult dispute with workers in Ireland. In 2011, they had to pay money to an employee in Northern Ireland for not following fair employment rules. In 2012, the company didn't seem worried about many negative online reviews. They pointed to better sales and profits. However, the Financial Times warned that "Web reviews, particularly when many persistently repeat the same complaints, may indicate looming difficulties."

In early 2016, Laura Ashley's Australian business faced financial trouble. But they managed to recover and stayed open for more than two years.

In 2018, Laura Ashley made some changes internationally. Early in the year, their long partnership with the Japanese company Aeon ended because Aeon's Laura Ashley operations were not making enough money. All 120 stores in Japan closed that September. However, as the Aeon partnership ended, a new agreement was made with the large Itochu Corporation. Itochu planned to expand the brand in department stores and specialty shops. They also wanted to reach new customers through an online store and their own shops.

At the very end of 2018, Laura Ashley Australia suddenly went into financial difficulty. No buyer was found, so all stores and the online business in Australia closed. The new chairman, Andrew Khoo, was hopeful. He wanted to grow Laura Ashley's online sales and maybe open physical stores in China later.

In the UK, Laura Ashley also faced setbacks. In December 2018, they announced that 40 stores would close due to poor sales. In February 2019, they expected poor results for the financial year. However, online sales and new ventures like tearooms and hotels were growing. In August 2019, they announced a larger annual loss. This was due to falling sales of their traditional products, even as new ventures expanded.

In 2020, after the COVID-19 outbreak, Laura Ashley announced it would face financial administration. It was one of the first large UK companies to do so because of the pandemic. At this time, the company had 150 retail locations.

Under Gordon Brothers

On April 22, 2020, it was announced that the investment company Gordon Brothers had bought the Laura Ashley brand name, its history, and its rights. In October 2020, it was announced that Laura Ashley would return. They planned a main store in London in 2021. Their products would also be sold in Next's 500 UK stores and on its website. They also planned new stores. That year, they worked with dressmaker Batsheva on a clothing line.

In 2022, they partnered with IMG to grow their presence in China, India, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. Laura Ashley also worked with Mamas & Papas to design baby clothes, nursery bedding, toys, and pushchairs. They partnered with Baggu for a line of bags, and with companies Graham & Brown and Ashley Wilde. By the end of 2022, 600 retailers stocked Laura Ashley products, along with its own stores. The company had over 3,000 different products.

In 2023, the company celebrated its 70th anniversary. Events included a quilt exhibition and a heritage exhibit in Newtown, Wales. A plaque was placed in Newtown to remember the company’s founding. That year, Laura Ashley also partnered with Lucky Brand for a new clothing line.

Company Leaders

Chief Executive Officers

• 1976–1990 – John James
• 1991–1993 – Jim Maxmin
• 1983–1995 – A. Schouten
• 1995–1997 – Ann Iverson
• 1997–1998 – David Hoare
• 1998–1999 – Victoria Egan
• 1999–present – Ng Kwan Cheong