London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

Austin Reed

The London mens’ clothier Austin Reed was founded in 1900 and set up shop in Regent Street in 1926 as the first men’s department store. The clothes were aimed at the upper middle class male, and the firm commissioned some of the best illustrator-designers of the day to promote its brand. The above poster, “Wagon-Lits”, is by a designer named Bomarry, about whom I can find absolutely nothing — surprising in this Age of Google.

The remaining posters presented here are from the Bristol-born Tom Purvis, one of the finest commercial artists of the twentieth century. Purvis came from an artistic family, being the son of the sailor & nautical artist T. G. Purvis. Much of his output was work for LNER — the London & North Eastern Railway — producing posters advertising the various attractions to be found along the LNER’s routes from London to Edinburgh (via York & Newcastle) and on to Aberdeen and Inverness; the railway also had an extensive coverage of East Anglia. In 1936 he was among the first to be given the title of Royal Designer for Industry, but he gave up poster design after the Second World War to concentrate on portraits and religious themes.

Published at 2:20 pm on Wednesday 8 July 2009. Categories: Design Posters Tags: , , , , .
Comments

Gorgeous posters, & clothes!

Here in Texas, it’s hard for a man (or woman) to dress so well. I mean, it’s the heat. And worse, the humidity.

My wife & I always look forward to the winter (such as it is) when we can bring out the wool skirts, Mackintosh coats, Harris tweeds, scarves, gloves, etc. Otherwise, we stay in light cotton most of the year. You can imagine how most people are dressed in our clime: T-shirts, shorts, flip-flops. A European friend visiting once asked me “Do all the men & women in America dress like children?”

Thanks, Andrew.

— kd 14 Jul 2009 11:33 pm

Andrew Rusack commented
For one minute I thought it was my name on this web site.

Excellent website wonderful posters particularly Austin Reed.

— Andrew Rusack 19 Feb 2010 5:54 am
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