Brief history aboutLaura Ashley
sold 4,000 dresses and received an extra fillip when a newspaper suggested that by donning a Laura Ashley number, women could look as beautiful as Catherine Ross in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".
A licensing operation led to the opening of department store concessions in Australia, Canada and Japan in 1971, while domestic expansion continued unabated. The first Laura Ashley shop in Paris was a sell-out from day one of trading in 1974. The same year, Laura Ashley made its grand entrance into the USA with the opening of a store in San Francisco.
Tragedy was to strike without warning. In 1985, on her 60th birthday, while she was visiting her children in the UK, Laura fell down the stairs and was rushed to hospital where she died ten days later. It was an appalling, senseless loss but her name lives on through her business. Just two months later, Laura Ashley Holdings plc went public in a flotation that was 34 times oversubscribed. The late 80's saw the knighthood of Sir Bernard Ashley, the opening of prestigious retail sites in London, the launch of the "Mother and Child" collection and "Laura Ashley Home", a range of exclusive home furnishings. Laura Ashley celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1993, the same year that Sir Bernard retired as chairman and became honorary life president. The Ashley family remains interested in the development of the business. Over recent years the company has weathered the managing effects of worldwide recession.
However, in May 1998, MUI Asia Limited became a major shareholder in Laura Ashley and remains committed to returning Laura Ashley to prosperity. The overall strategy is to focus on modernizing the brand whilst remaining true to Laura Ashley's brand values.