Industry Clothier Products Clothing Website hawesandcurtis.co.uk Type of business Private | Headquarters London, United Kingdom Parent Low Profile Holdings Founded 1913 | |
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Key people Touker Suleyman (Chairman) Profiles | ||
Hawes & Curtis is a British heritage brand founded in 1913, currently operating 29 stores in the UK and two of them located in Jermyn Street, London.
Contents
History
The company was founded by two tailors, Ralph Hawes and George Frederic "Freddie" Curtis, who opened the first store in Piccadilly Arcade, at the corner with Jermyn Street, in London in 1913.
On 1 December 1922, Hawes & Curtis Hosiers was granted a royal warrant by the then Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor). In July 1938, King George VI awarded the company a second royal warrant, and then, in 1948, a third one to Hawes & Curtis Tailors. This warrant lasted throughout the King’s reign. In 1957, the Duke of Edinburgh awarded Hawes & Curtis with a third Royal Warrant which remained until 1985.
Businessman Touker Suleyman acquired the company under the group Low Profile Holdings in 2002 for the symbolic amount of £1.
Designers' legacy
Hawes & Curtis are known for having introduced the backless evening waistcoat. It was an innovation of the ‘dress soft’ era popularised by the Duke of Windsor. The waistcoat was designed without a back and held in place by means of bands, fastened with a buckle or button across the back at the waistline. When worn, the waistcoat always remained in position under the tailcoat and was renowned for its comfort. Fred Astaire allegedly approached Hawes & Curtis to have one made of his very own, only to be regretfully refused due to the high demand for such garments from the British aristocracy.
According to the Review of Savile Row Tailors, by the 1930s, “Mr. Curtis was an authority in evening dress and had done more to keep shirts from bulging out of up-creeping waistcoats than any other young man in London. Evening shirts and waistcoats were made on scientific mathematical lines – yet were chic withal.”
Hawes & Curtis also assisted the Duke of Windsor in creating his now famous Windsor knot, by introducing an extra layer at the inside of the tie.
Notable customers
Notable customers have included Prince Philip, Cary Grant, the Duke of Windsor, Earl Mountbatten' Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Donald Sinden.
Today
The company celebrated its 100th anniversary in October 2013. It currently operates 29 stores in the United Kingdom, with the main store on Jermyn Street. Hawes & Curtis also has a store in Cologne, Germany, and the UAE. The company operates a British, German and Australian website. In common with many competitor brands, manufacturing is now offshore.