Austin Reed (retailer)

This article is about the clothing retailer. For the memoirist, see Austin Reed (author).

Austin Reed was a British fashion retailer founded in 1900; the brand was acquired by Edinburgh Woollen Mill in 2016.

Austin Reed

Flagship store on Regent Street, 2011
Trade name	Austin Reed
Traded as	Private
Industry	Fashion
Founded	1900
Founder	Austin Leonard Reed
Defunct	2016
Products	Clothing, bags and accessories
Owner	Edinburgh Woollen Mill (trademarks)

NKVD officer Vladimir Pravdin wore an Austin Reed suit he purchased from the Regent Street store, abandoning it in a Swiss hotel as he fled after his 1937 assassination of Ignace Reiss.^[1]

History

Austin Reed was founded by tailor Austin Leonard Reed (1873–1954).

Timeline

• 1900 - First shop opened in Fenchurch Street
• 1911 - Opening of flagship store in Regent Street
• 1929 - First international outlet on the RMS Aquitania
• 1930 - Opening of Regent Street Barber Shop
• 1936 - Opening of a concession on the RMS Queen Mary
• 1946 - Opening of a concession on the RMS Queen Elizabeth
• 1940s - Winston Churchill was a customer
• 1980s - Launch of Austin Reed's womenswear
• 2000 - UK Manufacturing ended and Crewe factory closed^[2]
• 2005 - Kosugi-Sangyo was the Austin Reed ready-to-wear license holder in Japan^[3]
• 2009 - Austin Reed Group acquired Viyella brand
• 2011 - Move from 103-113 Regent Street to 100 Regent Street
• 2016 - Entered administration. Five concessions located in Boundary Mills outlet villages were retained by Edinburgh Woollen Mill.^[4]

Austin Reed purchased retailer Country Casuals, rebranding it CC.^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture

Austin Reed is mentioned as potential alternative employment by Captain Peacock on the British situation comedy, Are You Being Served.^[5] Cast member John Inman had worked at Austin Reed as a tie clerk in the early 1950s.^[6]