{{Short description| British couture firm}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox company |name = Lachasse |logo = |type = Private company | traded_as = Lachasse |foundation = London, England (1928) |founder = Fred Shingleton |location_city = London |location_country = England |locations = |key_people = Digby Morton, Hardy Amies, Michael Donnellan, Owen, Peter Lewis-Crown |area_served = |industry = Fashion |products = Couture, ready-to-wear (from 1981) |services = |revenue = |operating_income = |net_income = |num_employees = |parent = |subsid = |caption = |dissolved = 2006 |footnotes = |intl = |homepage = }} '''Lachasse''' was a British couture firm operating from 1928 until 2006, making it one of the longest surviving high fashion houses in London.<ref name="VAM Michael sketch by Fromenti and biog">{{cite web|title=Michael; James|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O585888/michael-james-fashion-drawing-fromenti-marcel/|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum|accessdate=27 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="APR Lachasse entry Fashion Research Centre">{{cite web|title=Lachasse Ltd, Costume and Fashion Designers|url=http://www.apr.ac.uk/artists/searches/artistrecs.php?ARID=GB/NNAF/B302057|website=apr.ac.uk|publisher=Artists' Papers Register|accessdate=27 May 2015}}</ref>
Part of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers (IncSoc), it is notable for being a major training ground for British couturiers, numbering Digby Morton, Hardy Amies, and Michael Donnellan among its chief designers.<ref name="How Fashion Works Waddell">{{cite book|last1=Waddell|first1=Gavin|title=How Fashion Works: Couture, Ready-to-Wear and Mass Production|date=2004|publisher=Blackwell Science|location=Oxford|isbn=9780632057528|pages=176|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GX-uAAAAQBAJ&q=who+was+in+the+Incorporated+Society+of+London+Fashion+Designers&pg=PA175|accessdate=9 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lachasse Woram">{{cite web|last1=Woram|first1=Catherine|title=Lachasse|url=http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Ki-Le/Lachasse.html|website=fashionencyclopedia.com|publisher=Fashion Encyclopedia|accessdate=21 August 2014}}</ref> Later it would train further designers, with names such as Stephen Jones and John Galliano passing through the couture house as trainees on their way to successful solo careers.<ref name=apv>Jones, Stephen, ''A Personal View'', for {{Cite book| editor-last = Cullen| editor-first = Oriole | title = Hats: An Anthology| publisher = V&A Publishing| year = 2009| pages =13–25| isbn =978-1-85177-557-6}}</ref><ref name="Flashback 030409">{{cite news|title=Fashion Flashback|url=http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/vd-fashion-flashback/#1|accessdate=18 August 2014|work=Vogue|date=3 April 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021152431/http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/vd-fashion-flashback/#1|archivedate=21 October 2011}}</ref>
During the heyday of couture, Lachasse's customers included Princess Marina and Countess Mountbatten.<ref name="The Times 060290">{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Liz|title=Applying Pure Couture|issue=63622|work=The Times|date=6 February 1990|ref=pg.17}}</ref>
==Early history of the brand== Founded in 1928, Lachasse focused on the 1920s trend for sportswear. Some sources say it was established by a Mrs Philips, however the more prominent name behind the brand was Fred Shingleton. It was an offshoot of the couture house of Gray, Paulette & Shingleton – Paulette was a fashion house that had been bought by Shingleton.<ref name="APR Lachasse entry Fashion Research Centre"/><ref name="How Fashion Works Waddell"/><ref name="FE Woram">{{cite web|last1=Woram|first1=Catherine|title=Morton, Digby|url=http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Ma-Mu/Morton-Digby.html|website=fashionencyclopedia.com|publisher=Fashion Encyclopedia|accessdate=6 August 2014}}</ref> Writing in 1964, ''The Guardian'' fashion editor Alison Adburgham said: "People often ask, why Lachasse – there is no individual of that name, nor has there ever been. Lachasse was an offshoot... of a famous dress house in Berkeley Square called Paulette".<ref name="Guardian Adburgham 260163">{{cite news|last1=Adburgham|first1=Alison|title=London Fashion Week|work=The Guardian|date=26 January 1963|ref=p 5}}</ref>
Its original designer was Digby Morton, who is credited with coming up with the name because, as he later said, British women wouldn't buy high-end fashion designs unless they sounded French.<ref name="FE Woram"/> Morton's first women's collection for Lachasse introduced unusual colour combinations into Donegal tweed and reduced detailing so that the cut of the suit stood out. This transformed what had previously been considered staid country wear into something chic enough for town.<ref name="Independent IE Armstrong">{{cite news|last1=Armstrong|first1=Maggie|title=Tailor's Tale: Fashion's forgotten man|url=http://www.independent.ie/style/fashion/tailors-tale-fashions-forgotten-man-digby-morton-30253719.html|accessdate=6 August 2014|publisher=Independent IE|date=10 May 2014}}</ref> As Alison Adburgham noted in 1964, Morton: "made it fashionable to wear tweeds in London".<ref name="Guardian Adburgham 260163"/> The elegantly cut daywear suit became one of the hallmarks of Lachasse and would be refined by later house designers.<ref name="FE Woram"/>
===Hardy Amies years=== After five years, Morton set up his own label and he was succeeded at Lachasse by Hardy Amies, then a would-be designer and former Avery weighing machine salesman who had got the job of managing the store simply because a letter he wrote describing a dress came to the attention of Shingleton.<ref name="Daily Telegraph 0602303">{{cite news|title=Sir Hardy Amies|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1423803/Sir-Hardy-Amies.html|accessdate=27 May 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=6 March 2003}}</ref> Another telling of this story by Colin McDowell is that the letter Amies wrote was to his aunt – a ''vendeuse'' at a court dressmaker – and was describing the dress worn by Shingleton's wife at a dinner party Amies had attended.<ref name="The Guardian McDowell">{{cite news|last1=McDowell|first1=Colin|title=Sir Hardy Amies|work=The Guardian|date=6 March 2003}}</ref> Amies' early pieces showed his lack of experience; later he would describe some of them as hideous and extravagant.<ref name="Daily Telegraph 0602303"/> In 1937, however, his tweed suit called 'Panic' scored a huge hit. Cecil Beaton photographed the suit for ''Vogue''; it had padded hips, a nipped in waist (Amies had introduced corsets to the collection) and was made in green Linton tweed with a cerise pink check.<ref name="Independent Brampton">{{cite news|last1=Brampton|first1=Sally|title=Interview: A Snob and Proud of it|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/interview-a-snob-and-proud-of-it-1101209.html|accessdate=27 May 2015|work=The Independent|date=20 June 1999}}</ref><ref name="Daily Telegraph 0602303"/> By the time war broke out, Amies was designing the whole Lachasse collection.<ref name="Daily Telegraph 0602303"/>
==Post-war designs== In 1941, Michael Donnellan was named head of operations at Lachasse – while on wartime service – and became its chief designer after his return.<ref name="Donnellan obituary">{{cite news|last1=Obituaries|title=Mr Michael Donnellan|issue=62034|work=The Times|date=12 January 1985|ref=p8}}</ref> Donnellan – more usually known as Michael or Michael of Carlos place – was an established name and his designs for Lachasse bore the label 'Michael of Lachasse'. Later he would be described as the Balenciaga of London for his focus on simplicity of form and defined tailoring.<ref name="Guardian Adburgham 260163"/> Such was his stature, and that of Lachasse during this era, that the house was included in a 1953 feature about London's "big 10" designers in a feature in ''Life'' prior to the coronation of Elizabeth II.<ref name="Life Greene">{{cite magazine|last1=Greene|first1=Milton|last2=staff writer|title=Britain dresses up for the Queen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CUIEAAAAMBAJ&q=Peter+Russell+Fashion+Designer+%2B+hunting&pg=PA118|magazine=Life|date=30 March 1953}}</ref> This would be one of his last assignments for Lachasse as in 1953 he set up on his own, taking over the couture house of Peter Russell.<ref name="SMH 0653">{{cite news|last1=staff|title=Top-flight designer coming to Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18373284/1061373?zoomLevel=3|accessdate=13 August 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=25 June 1953}}</ref>
At Lachasse, the next head of design was Owen, who continued the tradition of fine tailoring that was a hallmark of the label, as seen in a red suit that now forms part of the V&A archive.<ref name="VAM Owen suit">{{cite web|title=Skirt suit and hat|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O83940/skirt-suit-and-lachasse/|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum|accessdate=27 May 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530204533/http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O83940/skirt-suit-and-lachasse/|archivedate=30 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="How Fashion Works Waddell"/> Owen was described by ''The Guardian'' in 1964 as: "a titled Irishman who is sheltering under the pseudonym of Owen". Almost a decade earlier, ''The Times'' revealed that Owen was the "Marquess McSweney".<ref name="Guardian 230164">{{cite news|last1=Adburgham|first1=Alison|title=The London Collections|work=The Guardian|date=23 January 1964|ref=pg.9}}</ref><ref name="The Times 250756">{{cite news|title=Striking Effect of Simple Ensembles|issue=53592|work=The Times|date=25 July 1956|ref=pg12}}</ref> Also among the company's design team during this era was Clive Evans – sometimes known simply as Clive – who would go on to become one of the hottest designers of the Swinging London scene.<ref name="APR Lachasse entry Fashion Research Centre"/><ref name="The Times 230165">{{cite news|title=Study in dress contrasts|issue=56227|work=The Times|date=23 January 1965}}</ref>
===Export drives=== In common with other London couturiers, Lachasse participated in a variety of export drives – especially for the American market.<ref name="Lachasse Woram"/> Its tailored suits had some success internationally, especially after the Wall Street crash, when many American buyers looked to London rather than Paris for fashions because of its lower prices.<ref name="Lachasse Woram"/> In 1936, ''The Times'' reported a small fashion show held in New York to mark the arrival of the ''Queen Mary'', at which Lachasse showed Scottish tweeds. Its new blue and red tweed was described as one of the "novelties".<ref name="The Times 250536">{{cite news|title=English Fashion Show in America|issue=47383|work=The Times|date=25 May 1936|ref=pg11}}</ref> In 1951, ''The Guardian'' reporting from the IncSoc autumn shows said that Lachasse had been: "wildly, and rightly, complimented by the American buyers". That same season, its chenille coat drew applause from the buyers at the Venice fashion show.<ref name="The Observer 090951">{{cite news|last1=Adburgham|first1=Alison|title=London Lines for a Day|work=The Observer|date=9 September 1951}}</ref>
With increased international focus on London fashion during coronation year, ''The Times'' reported on Michael of Lachasse's new lines, describing his "masher" (cutaway) jacket and narrow skirt inspired by Edwardian fashions as the "ace of trumps". It added: "No designer has done more than he [Michael of Lachasse] since the end of the war to show that London has not only impeccable tailoring to offer but also style, and new fabrics to be used in new ways".<ref name="The Times 010153">{{cite news|title=Clothes and the woman in coronation year: fashion trends likely to favour British elegance|issue=52508|work=The Times|date=1 January 1953|ref=pg11}}</ref> That same year, Lachasse – along with IncSoc members and wholesale houses such as Susan Small, Aquascutum and Simpsons – showed its fashion at St Moritz as part of an export drive organised by ''The Ambassador'' magazine.<ref name="The Times 160253">{{cite news|title=British Fashions in Switzerland|issue=52547|work=The Times|date=16 February 1953|ref=pg.8}}</ref>
==New ownership== In 1965, Peter Lewis-Crown, who had joined as an apprentice in 1948, became director of Lachasse. Subsequently, he took on ownership of the couture house and was also responsible for design.<ref name="Lachasse Woram"/> While this was an era when most of the London couture houses were struggling – with the explosion of a new crop of London designers and the rise of ready-to-wear – Lachasse retained a loyal clientele. ''The Times'' said, in 1966: "Lachasse's clothes are entirely undatable, and in that must lie the secret of his success with an obviously older clientele. Skirts are generally straight, often with kick pleats and firmly cover the knee".<ref name="The Times 200766">{{cite news|title=London shows: are we too understated?|issue=56688|work=The Times|date=20 July 1966|ref=pg.13}}</ref> A critique of the London couture houses in 1967 – in which the author contrasted their work with that of designers such as Mary Quant and Jean Muir – noted: "Lachasse's collection was so far removed from the current fashion idiom to seem almost a museum piece. His clothes, built to the standards of elegance, taste and fit of years gone by, are obviously designed for the older woman who remembers and loves straight cut skirts, low, square necklines, draped bodices, hip bows and cuffed, bracelet-length sleeves".<ref name="The Times 200167">{{cite news|title=Fashion Extra|issue=56844|work=The Times|date=20 January 1967|ref=pg.13}}</ref>
Lachasse continued to restrict itself to couture until 1981, when it opened a small boutique at its Thurloe Place, Kensington premises selling ready-to-wear.<ref name="Lachasse Woram"/> Couture, however, was still its main business and in 1990, Liz Smith writing in ''The Times'' described it as one of the go-to places in London for bespoke clothing: "Peter Lewis-Crown today continues the house tradition for natty tailoring (a suit costs around £1,000) that looks little changed from the days when Princess Marina and the late Countess Mountbatten were customers".<ref name="The Times 060290"/>
===Later designers=== Lachasse continued to provide a training ground for London's young designers. Both milliner Stephen Jones and future Givenchy and Dior head designer John Galliano spent time training there.<ref name="apv"/><ref name="Flashback 030409"/> An article in ''Vogue'' by fashion journalist Hamish Bowles, who had himself served an internship at Lachasse in the 1980s, described fashion shows featuring cocktail dresses and Derby day suits shown to a clientele comprising ladies in waiting to the Queen and "Mayfair matriarchs", adding: "It was quaint, it was heaven, it was an insight into a world that seemed long vanished even then".<ref name="Flashback 030409"/><ref name="D'NA 30 April 2014">{{cite web|title=Mr Bowles pays D'NA a visit|url=http://www.dnariyadh.com/moodboard/20140430-mr-bowles-pays-dna-a-visit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530210844/http://www.dnariyadh.com/moodboard/20140430-mr-bowles-pays-dna-a-visit|url-status=usurped|archive-date=30 May 2015|website=dnariyadh.com|publisher=DNA|accessdate=30 May 2015}}</ref>
===Legacy=== Lachasse clothing is held in the archives of the V&A and the Fashion Museum, Bath.<ref name="Lachasse Woram"/> Among the items at the Fashion Museum, Bath is the Virginia Lachasse doll, a miniature mannequin created in 1954 for a London exhibition and equipped with an entire couture wardrobe, from daywear to bags, nylons and cigarettes. The doll was among the centrepieces of a 2007/8 V&A touring exhibition ''The Golden Age of Couture''.<ref name="Virginian Pilot Curry">{{cite news|last1=Curry|first1=Chris|title=Miss Virginia doll always dazzled with her fashions and accessories|url=http://hamptonroads.com/node/434111|accessdate=30 May 2015|publisher=The Virginian Pilot|date=25 November 2007}}</ref><ref name="VAM Golden Age of Couture">{{cite web|title=The Golden Age of Couture|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-golden-age-of-couture/|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum|accessdate=30 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="WSJ 16062010">{{cite news|title=The Golden Age of Couture|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704009804575308850181744426|accessdate=30 May 2015|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=16 June 2010|ref=6of10}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/17239 Lachasse hat, 1940s, in Victoria and Albert Museum]
Category:1920s fashion Category:1930s fashion Category:1940s fashion Category:1950s fashion Category:1960s fashion Category:1970s fashion Category:1980s fashion Category:1990s fashion Category:2000s fashion Category:1928 establishments in England Category:High fashion brands Category:2006 disestablishments in England