Austin Reed (retailer)

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

History

Austin Reed was founded by tailor Austin Leonard Reed.

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
2005 - Kosugi-Sangyo was the Austin Reed ready-to-wear license holder in Japan
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.

Austin Reed purchased retailer Country Casuals, rebranding it CC.

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