Industry FashionEmbroidery Services 020 7580 7488 | Website handembroidery.com | |
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Founded 2001; merger of M Hand & Company Ltd and S Lock Key people Alastair Macleod (Chairman)Jessica Jane Pile (Director) | ||
Hand & Lock is an embroidery brand in the United Kingdom created from the merger of M Hand & Company and S Lock in 2001, and is based in Fitzrovia, London.
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History
M Hand & Company Ltd was founded in London in 1767. Hand was a Huguenot refugee who was skilled in working with gold lace, and had studied under Italian craftsmen.
In 1898, C E Phipps began creating embroidered fashion items and selling them to department stores. Phipps retired in 1956 and sold the company to Stanley Lock. The newly named S Lock Company expanded to create special order embroidery items for fashion houses, including Christian Dior, Norman Hartnell, Hardy Amies and Catherine Walker The company has created embroidered gowns for Queen Elizabeth and Diana, Princess of Wales. In 1972 it was awarded a Royal Warrant.
In 2001 M Hand & Company and S. Lock merged to form the firm Hand & Lock, and continued to design and manufacture specialty embroidered fashion items.
In 2012 they embroidered the banners for the royal barge for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations
In 2014 Hand & Lock were commissioned to do the embroidery on Mary Katrantzou's Autumn/Winter 2014 collection
In 2015 the company contributed images to a replica of the Wikipedia article about the Magna Carta as part of a community art project designed by Cornelia Parker.
Hand & Lock sponsored the Victoria & Albert Museum's Opus Anglicanum Show in late 2016
Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery
The Hand & Lock prize for embroidery, originally called the M Hand prize for embroidery was created in 2000. The competition occurs yearly and has two main categories, each of which has a top prize of $5000. The student category is open to people in part or full time education, and the open category is open to everyone. In addition, the Wilcom Institutional Prize awards £6000 of embroidery software and training to the university of the winning student.