Redfern (couture)
Redfern & Sons (later Redfern Ltd) was a British tailoring firm founded by John Redfern (1820-1895) in Cowes on the Isle of Wight that developed into a leading European couture house (active: 1855–1932; 1936–1940). By the early 1890s the business had branches in London, Edinburgh, Paris and New York. The Paris extension was operated as a couture establishment while its other branches functioned primarily as tailors and importers. History John Redfern (11 November 1820 – 22 November 1895) started out as a tailor in Cowes in 1855, following in the sartorial footsteps of his father, also John Redfern, who first opened a Cowes specialty clothing shop in 1811. With the support of sons Ernest Redfern and Charles Poynter Redfern (1853-1929), John Redfern opened tailoring houses in London and Paris in 1881, followed by two shops in New York in 1884–85, one for tailoring, the other for furs. The Redferns are credited with making tailored clothing chic for women. Previously resigned to utilitarian wear, finely tailored dresses and suits, as introduced by Redfern, quickly became a craze among sporting aristocrats on holiday at Cowes, spreading soon to Paris. In the 1870s the Redfern yachting suit or dress was swiftly becoming the