From Long Eaton to London: the story of Sunspel’s sites
Whenever the Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) brand is mentioned, one may think of the label’s highly wearable everyday luxury clothing, developed with the benefit of the latest fabric technologies and with a particular aesthetic in mind. However, the history of the brand is in many ways the history of its sites, which have all played an instrumental role in creating the company’s present reputation for innovation and timeless style since its foundation in 1860s Nottingham.
The story of Sunspel’s heritage clothing starts at the beginning of that decade, when the visionary Thomas Hill made the bold move of setting up his own company, Thomas Hill Ltd, with the aim of importing fine grade cotton to make comfortable and durable underwear for the British market. An initial factory in the Newdigate area of the city housed 500 employees who were skilled at working with Lisle cotton to create luxury hosiery. The founder’s son, Thomas Arthur Hill, went on to make the most of the export opportunities for the fledgling company’s underwear in China, Malaya and India.
Several generations later came the move to the premises from which Sunspel continues to design and produce clothes today, the Long Eaton factory of what was then known as Sea Island Textiles Ltd. By the end of the thirties, the company had changed its name to Sunspel, after its premier underwear brand. From this unassuming location, the business would come to launch some of the most impactful lines of British clothing of the 20th and early 21st centuries – especially underwear, with Nick Kamen’s appearance in Sunspel boxer shorts in the Levi’s Launderette advert propelling the brand to new heights of popularity.
Today, the Long Eaton site forms the head office of Sunspel Ltd, with the company’s highly rated quality clothing being ably represented across its two London stores, in Shoreditch and Soho. The former is a modestly sized shop on the corner of Redchurch Street which offers a number of specially sourced objects and clothes. It is also home to various unusual and experimental ‘store specials’ that are not to be found anywhere else.
Sunspel’s Soho store, meanwhile, occupies the site of the former Janus Bookstore, the infamous seller of bespoke erotica on Old Compton Street a mere five minutes’ walk from Oxford Street and Piccadilly. Although the old shop has been developed, as much of the original building as possible has been retained, including exposed original support beams and a beautiful wooden floor of reclaimed Rhodesian teak.
These features make the shop the ideal place to buy from the full range of heritage clothing from Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com), a continually updated selection of exclusive store specials and Sunspel Selects, which are various especially chosen classic items from quality manufacturers.
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