John Smedley

In 1784 the factory started life producing simple muslin fabric and spinning cotton and in 1825 they moved on to producing more complex garments using one of the first ever fully fashioned knitting machines, creating the original Long Johns. Moving onto 1914 where they began exporting to the far reaches of the globe and over time established as one of Britain's most famous clothing brands. Within the 1950's and 60's they became the brand of choice for many famous faces, including Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and the Beatles amongst many others and by 1980 they had established as the go-to knitwear brand for British designers such as Dame Vivienne Westwood and Sir Paul Smith.