Knitted Textiles, Sportsclothes and the Development of London Wholesale Couture: 1920–1939

Abstract

This paper considers the garments produced by two London Ready-to-Wear companies; Rose and Blairman and Matita, during the 1920s and 1930s. It centres on the sportsclothes produced by these two firms and questions why their output was primarily made from knitted textiles. Rose and Blairman and Matita later went on to become leading wholesale couture firms. The focus period of this paper largely represents the pre-history of the wholesale couture sector, the term first used in the mid 1930s. However, this paper establishes why knitted textiles and sportsclothes were central to Rose and Blairman and Matita’s output and how these ultimately helped to ensure the early success of the sector.