Amies, Sir Hardy

(1909-2003)

   Born in London, he joined the house of Lâchasse in 1934, where his mother worked, and he was soon promoted to chief designer. During World War II, Amies served as a liaison to the British and Belgian armies and contributed designs to the Government Utility Scheme, which raised money for the war effort by selling clothes for export to the Americas. He also worked with the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers, the governing body of British couture. He opened his own couture house on Savile Row in 1945. In 1955, he was appointed as the official dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II, a position that ended when he turned eighty years old. Amies addressed the problem of being copied by selling toiles of his suits to stores and made numerous licensing deals for menswear, workwear, cosmetics, lingerie, and ready-to-wear clothing. He received the British Hall of Fame Award and was honored with knighthood in 1989. Amies, at the age of ninety-three, sold the company to the Luxury Brands Group in 2001. Since then, the newly created ready-to-wear collection, designed by Paolo Gabrielle in 2002, was poorly received and ceased, and the couture line has seen a parade of designers come and go—including Kenneth Fleetwood, Jon Moore, and Jacques Azagury. In 2004, Ian Garlant put Hardy Amies haute couture back on track.

   See also British civilian clothing order CC41.