Redfern
Redfern was a historic English and French tailor’s shop founded by John Redfern in the 1800s.
English and French tailoring. It was the brainchild of John Redfern (1820-1895), a wool cloth merchant who had been active on the Isle of Wight since the mid-1800s. Encouraged by the tourist development of the island, he opened a ladies’ suit department.
Later, together with his sons, he had a branch in London. Ernest ran the London and New York branches, while Charles, and later John Poynter Redfern, ran the Paris salon. From 1892, when Redfern’s sons took control of the company, the house became known as Redfern Ltd.
In the French capital, the fashion house presented creations that combined Parisian elegance with British taste. Moreover In 1916, fashion house to designed its new uniform. The fashion house ceased activity at the beginning of the 1930s.
Indeed, particularly popular were his ‘ladies’ suits’ with shaped jackets and waistcoats. Generally characterized by the heavy use of braids and ring buttons, which gave the garment a military and highly structured appearance. The soutache lining was characteristic of many of Redfern’s designs.
Fame would come with the Princess of Wales’ wedding trousseau. In 1888, he opened other branches in New York, Chicago and Paris. Thereafter, in the French capital, the tailor’s shop presented creations that combined Parisian elegance with British taste.
The Redferns are recognised for making made-to-measure clothing chic for women. In the 1870s, the “Redfern yacht dress” had considerable success and became a distinctive element of British fashionable dress. The Redfern brand was essentially the first high-end sportswear brand.
On the Contrary, In 1871 the fashion house expanded its tailoring activities to include the design and sale of silk dresses and mourning gowns. At the beginning of the 1910s, the Maison’s designs were often illustrated in the Gazette du Bon Ton along with other important Parisian couturiers such as Cheruit, Doeuillet, Doucet, Paquin, Poiret and Worth.
In 1885 he became a tailor by appointment for Queen Victoria and Queen Emma of the Netherlands, among others. In 1908 he revisited the ‘Greek style’ dress and raised the waist.
In 1916, the International Red Cross commissioned the tailor to design its new uniform. The company ceased trading in the early 1930s.
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