Mary Portas' Kinky Knickers come to John Lewis
Mary Portas has been on a mission to drive change in the retail world, and now she's set her sights on the manufacturing industry - British manufacturing to be precise.
With Mary's work to boost the High Street and the importance of buying UK-made products both being two high profile topics at the moment, it's a fitting combination. And we're pleased to be supporting this fun, but equally important project.
When Mary set about producing her own fashion line last year, she envisaged British-made pieces carefully created using our own home-grown skills, but soon realised this was an impossible task.
As Mary says, "Britain was once a manufacturing colossus, renowned for its world-class clothing industry. But today, most fashion is manufactured cheaply abroad and, across the UK, bustling factories and skilled manufacturers have closed down".
As a retailer that's always looking to support British manufacturing, Mary approached us with the exciting proposition to be part of her new project. We own our own factory, Herbert Parkinson, where we produce many of our Home products, and so there was no doubt that this would be a fantastic opportunity to work with a UK factory in the underwear market, and increase our support of British manufacturing.
John Lewis already works with more than 130 UK manufacturers to celebrate and utilise the nation's skills and craftsmanship, and now we can proudly add Mary's Kinky Knickers to our list of UK-made products.
Mary has re-opened the sewing room floor at a factory owned by British nightwear manufacturers Headen and Quarmby, based in Middleton near Manchester. She's employed 8 apprentices, all of whom have been unemployed for some time. She's even managed to find the last remaining lace maker in Nottingham, to make sure these briefs are truly British.
Each brief boasts a classic style and is beautifully packaged in a chic, recycled box. And each pair comes personalised with a cheeky message from the apprentice who made them, hidden in the gusset - giving a fun element to this wardrobe staple.
Kinky Knickers are available in our Oxford Street, Peter Jones, Bluewater and Nottingham shops and online.
