Laura Ashley has been acquired by New York-based Marquee Brands, which owns 17 businesses including Ben Sherman and Martha Stewart.
This clothing and home goods brand, best known for its fluffy floral dresses, is distributed by Gordon Brothers.
The Gordon Brothers have owned Laura Ashley since 2020. Bought the business out of management. After becoming the first big retail casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, which does not have its own stores, returned to the high street the following year through a deal with Next.
Laura Ashley also currently has agreements with DFS and John Lewis in the UK and is available in 150 stores worldwide through a network of international licensees.
The deal with Marquee Brands will retain Laura Ashley's UK-based team, run by Poppy Marshall-Lawton, and see the US company open its first European headquarters in London.
Heath Golden, CEO of Marquee Brands, said: “With our existing UK team in place, we are building a full lifestyle brand that leverages Laura Ashley's 70-year heritage to innovate new products and categories. We are ready to unlock our future potential.”
“Laura Ashley’s licensed business model and strong group of high-quality partners will make the brand a seamless addition.”
Founded in 1953 on the kitchen table of Laura and Bernard Ashley, the company began as a company offering affordable products inspired by country living, such as headscarves and napkins.
It established itself as a fashion brand in the 1970s, and its floaty floral dresses became a wearable, mainstream version of hippie culture.
By the time Laura died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1985, the brand had 220 stores around the world and was a staple of Princess Diana's Sloane Ranger set.
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The company strengthened its household products business in the 1990s, and at the time of its bankruptcy it accounted for 80% of its business.
But by the mid-2010s, sales and profits were in a downward spiral, and Laura Ashley was on the brink of bankruptcy even before the pandemic forced the closure of all UK stores.
Before coming to power, Laura Ashley was listed on the London Stock Exchange but was controlled by Malaysian group MUI.
