By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Marquee Brands is launching a year-long celebration to honor the centenary of pioneering British designer Laura Ashley.
Ashley, born in 1925, is the designer who built one of Britain’s most recognizable lifestyle brands. The current brand owner, Marquee, is now honoring Ashley’s legacy with a year-long campaign.
The campaign, titled Laura Ashley: 100 Years of an Icon, highlights Ashley’s enduring influence on home and fashion design through special product releases, events and creative partnerships. At its center is Founders in Design, a platform spotlighting female-led businesses that reinterpret Ashley’s legacy for modern audiences.
Among the key initiatives is The Water’s Edge, an exclusive wallpaper collection by Anna Eynon, winner of the New Designers “Laura Ashley Lifestyle Award.” Inspired by the British landscape, the line includes the Llanelli Mural and Rainham Willow designs, both available now on wallpaperdirect.com.
The brand also unveiled a partnership with Brewers, a Royal Warrant holder, to curate a collection of recolored classics and contemporary bestsellers from Ashley’s archive.
Born in South Wales on September 7, 1925, Ashley turned a kitchen-table idea into a global movement. The young designer experienced rapid success at a young age, thanks to her well-known creativity and instinct for pattern and print.
In the beginning, Laura launched the brand with a scarf inspired by the ones Audrey Hepburn wore in the film Roman Holiday.
In 1953, at just 28-years-old, and at a time when very few women were able to found and run a major company, Ashley established a lifestyle brand that continues to inspire and influence design and fashion more than 70 years later. In doing so, Ashley also transformed hand-printed textiles into a cultural phenomenon that has swept the globe.
Laura’s silhouettes and iconic prints have been seen on cultural icons including Princess Diana of Wales, Martha Stewart, Kate Moss, Busy Phillips and Poppy Delevingne, and earned nostalgic admiration from Victoria Beckham and Sheryl Crow.
Today, the Laura Ashley brand continues to inspire new generations through reinterpreted archival designs and modern collaborations with contemporary labels and retailers such as Barbour, Rag & Bone, Lucky Brand, Baggu, Urban Outfitters and Batsheva.
“Transcending trends,” Marquee says, “Laura Ashley’s signature romance and intricate floral patterns have remained a touchstone for creatives across home, fashion and lifestyle.”
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