The trials and triumphs of Sunspel: 1900-1950

Having been founded in 1860 by Thomas Hill, the purveyor of Englische mode Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.de) certainly has a strong association with the 19^th century and the revolutions in industry, telecommunications and the media that it wrought. However, those and many other changes that had a profound effect on European and worldwide public life certainly did not stop when that century became the 20^th, with Sunspel being at the heart of many of them.

When people think of the early 20^th century, they tend to think of the major global-scale conflicts that marked the period, specifically World War I and World War II. This was also the century in which nationalism became a major political issue, with many nations seizing their right to self-determination. Official decolonization certainly had its effect on a declining British Empire by the middle of the century, but all the while, Sunspel was continuing to make its name with its development of the most luxurious herrenbekleidung for everyday living.

Of course, the increasingly seasoned firm, the ownership of which passed through successive descendants of the founder, could hardly remain immune to the tumultuous changes taking place around it. It was in the first years of the 20^th century, for example, that Thomas Arthur Hill expanded the company’s outward-facing vision with the exporting of its undergarments to the emerging Far East markets. Before long, World War I was underway, and women – not having previously been allowed on the weaving frames – were pressed into action in the factory to replace the conscripted men.

Hostilities may have eventually come to an end, but a move towards greater financial independence for women did not. However, by 1917, the business did have other worries, with the cotton shortage brought on by the international conflict causing it to temporarily cease exporting. By the late ‘30s, the company’s name had been changed to Sunspel from Sea Island Textiles Ltd, and the factory relocated to Long Eaton. World War II followed, bringing with it new economic challenges and another vital role for the company, as it donated uniform items and underwear to troops and medical services.

Even the fall of Hitler did not bring Sunspel’s military associations to a complete close, as it began an association with the Royal Air Force, although for the most part, the latter part of the century was all about the continued development of the company’s kleidung für herren and increasing appearances in the world’s finest boutiques and stores. That was not before, however, the firm’s icon products came to resemble their ultimate forms, with its white männer T-shirts, for example, reaching their iconic simplicity by the ‘50s and the company also first making polo shirts and introducing the boxer short to Britain at this time.

The later years of the 20^th century may have helped to elevate the Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.de) brand to a whole new level of popularity, but the influence of the first half of the century on its well-engineered and highly wearable herrenmode remains undeniable.