Turnbull & Asser
Encyclopedia
Turnbull & Asser is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 clothier established in 1885. In addition to its flagship store on Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a street in the City of Westminster, central London, to the south, parallel and adjacent to Piccadilly.It is well known as a street where the shops are almost exclusively aimed at the Gentleman's market and is famous for its resident shirtmakers Jermyn Street is a street in the...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 it also has two United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 locations, one in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and one in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...

.

Turnbull & Asser has dressed figures such as Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

, Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, George H.W. Bush and John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

. Today, Turnbull & Asser also manufactures some women's clothing. Although extremely tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...

al outfitters, the company is known for its particularly vivid colours in shirts, knitwear, socks and ties.

History

Turnbull & Asser was founded in 1885 by Reginald Turnbull, a hosier, and Ernest Asser, a salesman. Together, they opened a hosiery on Wall Street in St. James's
St. James's
St James's is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. It is bounded to the north by Piccadilly, to the west by Green Park, to the south by The Mall and St. James's Park and to the east by The Haymarket.-History:...

 in central London, called "John Arthur Turnbull." As the foundation of numerous gentlemen's clubs reestablished the neighborhood, Turnbull's business flourished. The name was changed to "Turnbull & Asser" in 1895.

In 1903, after continued success, Turnbull & Asser moved to its present location at the corner of Jermyn Street and Bury Street. In 1915, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Turnbull & Asser developed a raincoat which doubled as a sleeping bag for the British Military. It is known as the Oilsilk Combination Coverall & Ground Sheet. During the 1920s, as dress became less formal, men's dress shirt
Dress shirt
A shirt, or dress shirt in American English, is a garment with a collar, a full-length opening at the front from the collar to the hem, and sleeves with cuffs. Shirts are predominantly used by men, since women usually wear blouses...

s became more noticeable articles of clothing. Turnbull & Asser responded by focusing its business more on shirtmaking, for which it is most known today.

Between the 1920s and the 1970s, Turnbull & Asser grew its London business from a haberdashery to a clothier, expanding into sportswear, clothing (both bespoke
Bespoke
Bespoke is a term employed in a variety of applications to mean an item custom-made to the buyer's specification...

 and off-the peg), and off-the-peg shirts. As its symbol, it used a hunting horn with a "Q" above, which it called the Quorn
Quorn Hunt
The Quorn Hunt, usually called The Quorn, established 1696, is one of the world's oldest fox hunting packs and claims to be the United Kingdom's most famous hunt...

., a name it shares with one of the oldest hunts in England. Many of Turnbull & Asser's articles were called by this name, such as the popular "Quorn scarf." During the 1960s, Turnbull & Asser even had been known for catering to the Swinging London
Swinging London
Swinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...

 set, with vibrant colors and "modern" designs. In 1962, Turnbull & Asser began to outfit the cinematic James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 as first portrayed by Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...

, whose dress shirts had turnback cuffs fastened with buttons as opposed to cufflinks, sometimes referred to as the James Bond Cuff.

In the 1970s and 1980s, however, Turnbull & Asser began reviving some of the more traditional aspects of its business. The company found that Americans increasingly were buying its wares, so it began offering trunk show
Trunk show
A "trunk show" is a special sale in which vendors present merchandise directly to store personnel or select customers at a retail location or another unique venue. In many cases it allows store personnel to preview and/or purchase merchandise before it is made available to the public. It is...

s at the Grand Hyatt
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation , is an international operator of hotels.Hyatt Center is the headquarters for Hyatt corporation...

 in New York City. Beginning in 1974, Turnbull & Asser sold ready-to-wear shirts in the United States through department stores Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller was a department store in New York City founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street. In 1897 Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the partnership and the store moved to 23rd Street, East of Sixth Avenue...

 and Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...

. For a brief period beginning in 1979, Turnbull & Asser even operated a small store in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 opened by Tony Carlisle and Kenneth Williams.

Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

, the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

, had bought shirts from Turnbull & Asser since his youth. In 1981, after his marriage to Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

, the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 bestowed upon him the right to grant royal warrant
Royal Warrant
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, so lending prestige to the supplier...

s in his own name. The first warrant he signed was to Turnbull & Asser for shirts which was won for the company by then director Antony Carlisle. He also wears Turnbull & Asser suits, made by the former Chester Barrie
Chester Barrie
Chester Barrie are a semi-bespoke gentleman's tailor located at №32 Savile Row, London.Founded in 1935 by expatriate English tailor Simon Ackerman, and presently owned by Prominent Europe. The company provides ready-to-wear clothes, as well as bespoke tailoring.-History:At the turn of the 20th...

 factory in Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...

, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

.

Today

Ali Al-Fayed
Ali al-Fayed
Ali Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and UK citizen. He is Mohamed Al-Fayed's younger brother.Ali Al-Fayed has interests in Harrods, which he bought in 1985, and the Hôtel Ritz Paris, bought in 1979. Both these businesses were bought with his older brother, Mohamed Al-Fayed...

, younger brother of Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and billionaire. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge...

, former owner of Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...

, bought Turnbull & Asser in 1986. He renovated the Jermyn Street store, installing computerised cash registers and updating the interior. He also closed the Toronto location. In 1993, after Thomas Mason, a Nelson, Lancashire
Nelson, Lancashire
Nelson is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 28,998 in 2001. It lies 4 miles north of Burnley on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal....

 mill from which Turnbull & Asser bought its cotton was acquired by Albini Group, most of the fabrics the company used in its shirts began to be woven in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.
However, unlike the majority of other 'Jermyn Street' labelled competitors, Turnbull & Asser still make their shirts in the UK, from their long-established Gloucester factory.
Noticing a continuing influx of Americans to the Jermyn Street location, in 1997 Fayed opened a location on 57th Street
57th Street (Manhattan)
57th Street is one of New York City's major east-west thoroughfares, which runs east-west in the Midtown section of the borough of Manhattan, from the New York City Department of Sanitation's dock on the Hudson River at the West Side Highway to a small park overlooking the East River built on a...

 in New York City.

In 2003, Fayed opened an additional store on Brighton Way in Beverly Hills.

In 2007, Turnbull & Asser created an on-line store on their British website. The US based website does not currently cater for online orders.

In 2008, Turnbull and Asser opened a new store in Old Broad Street, London

In 2010, Turnbull and Asser started selling Custom Shirts through their on-line store.

Cultural references

  • In the 1974 film The Great Gatsby
    The Great Gatsby (1974 film)
    The Great Gatsby is a 1974 romantic drama film distributed by Newdon Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick, from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola based on F...

    , the famous scene where Daisy Buchanan collapses in tears after seeing Jay Gatsby's shirt collection used Turnbull & Asser shirts (with the boxes and name clearly visible), despite the fact that designer Ralph Lauren
    Ralph Lauren
    Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...

     had made all the other men's clothes in the film.
  • The 1999 film The Avengers features a scene at Turnbull & Asser's Jermyn Street store, in which John Steed
    John Steed
    John Steed is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the popular British series The Avengers and The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee and Ralph Fiennes in the movie....

     is being measured for bespoke shirts.
  • The famous British spy character James Bond
    James Bond
    James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

     wears bespoke Turnbull & Asser shirts on film, and the store also created a special edition James Bond evening shirt for the 2006 version of Casino Royale
    Casino Royale (2006 film)
    Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond...

    .

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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