Regional Couture: The Inter-war British Couture Fashion House Isobel (London & Harrogate) Ltd

Abstract

Isobel (London & Harrogate) Ltd was the second fashion business established by Jewish immigrant Isobel Nathan between 1925 and 1940. Nathan had premises at 223 Regent Street by 1922 and later at 70 Grosvenor Street, London, but she had also established a branch salon and workrooms in 1917 in the fashionable Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate. This under-researched dress house has largely faded into obscurity. During this time, however, the Isobel label signified ‘British-made’ luxury fashion, and, focused on the home markets, Nathan employed over 450 workers nationally. This article examines Nathan's business practice of northern regionalism; that British did not just mean London and its metropolitan clientele. Through examination of unpublished business records alongside both editorial copy and advertising from the period, this article identifies the Harrogate salon as pioneering move to reach a broader clientele, connect to British manufacturers and reduce the seasonality of the fashion trade. This article recognizes Nathan as a notable early British couturier in the inter-war years who leveraged designing and marketing to her northern clientele to successfully service the home market as an ‘All British’ brand.