Ben Sherman is a British clothing brand selling shirts, sweaters, suits, outerwear, shoes and accessories predominantly for men. Ben Sherman has been described as an 'iconic British brand'. Ben Sherman designs sometimes feature the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

which is often called the mod target.Jobling, Paul and David Crowley, ''Graphic Design: Reproduction and Representation Since 1800'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996) , , p. 213 In its beginnings in the 1960s, the company made its mark with fashionable short sleeved, button-down collared shirts.

History

The company was founded in 1963 by Arthur Benjamin Sugarman (1925–1987), the son of a Jewish salesman, born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. Sugarman emigrated to the United States in 1946, via Canada, where he later became a naturalised US citizen. He married the daughter of a Californian clothes producer and later returned to Brighton, where he established a shirt factory at 21 Bedford Square in 1963. Sugarman spotted that early 1960s London-based modern jazz fans were eagerly buying the Oxford-collared American button-down shirt brands such as

Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers Inc. is an American clothing brand founded in 1818 which is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in the United States. Originally a family business, it is currently owned as a joint venture between Authentic Brands G ...

, Arrow, and Hathaway, that were worn by visiting American jazz artists including

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

, and Canadian jazz artist

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

. At the time, these were only available from official importers. He decided to produce a version of these shirts. Mods quickly embraced the brand, especially as Sugarman was using higher-quality materials and stitching detail than the imported shirts. The Ben Sherman Originals label was created, and by 1965, the company had opened a small office on the upper floors of an office-block in a London backstreet. This acted as the showroom for their shirt and beachwear collections. The first Ben Sherman store was opened on Brighton's Duke Street in 1967. Writing of the brand in 2015, the Guardian wrote that it was "on a par with labels like

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former World number 1 male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors, including eight Grand Slam (tennis), ...

for the mod set in the 60s". Ben Sherman remained popular in the late 70s and early 80s as acts including

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

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and Madness helped the brand appeal to the mod revival and

rude boy Rude boy is a subculture that originated from 1960s Jamaican street culture. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other variations like ''rudeboy'' and ''rudebwoy'', being used t ...

movements. The brand also, along with Fred Perry, Lonsdale, Dr Martins, and to a lesser extent Levis, became associated with

skinheads A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...

at this time. Benjamin Sugarman sold his business in 1975 and retired to Australia. The company passed through a number of hands in the following years. In 1993, British investor 3i backed a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

of Ben Sherman Limited from Northern Ireland-based Dunkeld fashion group, then in

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

, for £4 million which resulted in the creation of the Sherman Cooper Group. In 2000, 3i financed a second management-buyout that created Ben Sherman PLC. In mid-2004, Oxford Industries Inc. of Atlanta purchased the Ben Sherman brand for £80 million (then US$146 million) from 3i and Irish venture capital company Enterprise Equity. In October 2009, Ben Sherman opened a store at 39

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

. Oxford Industries Inc. completed the sale of Ben Sherman to Marquee Brands, controlled by the US investment group

Neuberger Berman Neuberger Berman Group LLC is an American private, independent, employee-owned investment management firm. The firm manages equities, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund portfolios for global institutional investors, advisors and high-ne ...

for £41m in 2015. In turn, UK operations were licensed out to The Baird Group (BMB Clothing). At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics,

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

’s opening ceremony outfits were designed by Ben Sherman creative director Mark Williams. Drawing on the Mod heritage of the brand, athletes wore civilian Harrington jackets and button-down shirts. In March 2024 the company launched its first ever golf-focused apparel collection. At the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, Ben Sherman once again outfitted Team GB.

Image

The Ben Sherman brand has often been compared to fellow British clothing brand

and Lonsdale. As well as being worn by several prominent bands, Ben Sherman has also been featured in several films, including 2006's ''

This is England ''This Is England'' is a 2006 British coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. Its plot centres on young skinheads in England in 1983, illustrating how their subculture became influenced by far-right politics. The f ...

''. In July 2015, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described Ben Sherman as being at a 'low ebb as a trendsetter,' saying that Ben Sherman was now a 'safe choice', but that 'history could help its relaunch'.

References

External links

{{mods British brands Shoe companies of the United Kingdom Clothing brands of the United Kingdom Clothing companies established in 1963 English brands Clothing companies of England Clothing retailers of England 1963 establishments in England 1960s fashion 1970s fashion 1980s fashion

History

Image

See also

References

External links