Thomas Pink Shirtmaker Ltd is a British shirt-maker. It was established in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1984 by three Irish brothers – James, Peter and John Mullen. From 1999 to 2021 it was owned by

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding company and conglomerate that specializes in luxury goods and has its headquarters in Paris, France. The company was formed in 1987 through the ...

. In 2024 Thomas Pink Shirtmaker was acquired by Icon Luxury Group and CP Brands Group.

History

The company was started in 1984 by three Irish brothers – James, Peter and John Mullen. It was named after Thomas Pink, an eighteenth-century

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

, London. In 1999, it was sold to Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, which paid about €48 million for 70% of the company. At the time, the company had 20 shops, including 17 in the UK, one in Dublin and two in the United States. LVMH bought the remaining 30% of the company in 2003. In 2012, Thomas Pink launched legal proceedings in the UK against

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

, which was marketing lingerie under the label "Pink"; Thomas Pink claimed Victoria's Secret was infringing on its trademarks, confusing customers and tarnishing its image pursuant to the

Trade Marks Act 1994 The Trade Marks Act 1994 (c. 26) is the law governing trade marks within the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. It implements EU Directive No. 89/104/EEC (The Trade Marks Directive) which forms the framework for the trade mark laws of all ...

.Elizabeth Paton (8 June 2017)
Thomas Pink Appoints John Ray as Creative Director
''The New York Times''. Accessed July 2017. Although Victoria's Secret attempted to raise a number of defences including revocation for non-use, and attacking the validity of the marks for descriptiveness and lack of distinctiveness, in July 2014 in the

High Court of England and Wales The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

Judge Colin Birss ruled in Thomas Pink's favour. Victoria's Secret, which is owned by L Brands, is making efforts to protect its trademarks in the United States, where the British trademark ruling did not have any effect. In 2018, the company made an operating loss of £23.5 million. In November 2018, it changed its name to Pink Shirtmaker. It closed its

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a One-way traffic, one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing r ...

shop in August 2020, and in December of that year closed down its other shops, its website and its social media activity. Its dissolution was partially attributed to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In February 2021, Nick Preston, a former JD Sports executive, made arrangements to acquire the brand and its intellectual property from LVMH, though not its retail storefronts; the brand resumed trading in November of that year. In December 2024 Thomas Pink was acquired by Icon Luxury Group and CP Brands in a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

References

External links

*{{official, https://thomaspink.com British companies established in 1984 Clothing brands of the United Kingdom Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom Shirts