A rare Redfern ivory linen summer sporting suit, circa 1905

labelled, comprising: a blouse with pintucks and embroidered vines and clovers, bust 92cm, 36in; a matching skirt, waist 64cm, 25in; a jacket with embroidered lapel and mother-of-pearl buttons, bust 92cm, 36in (3)

The House of Redfern had relatively humble beginnings - it began as a tailor’s shop founded in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1855 by John Redfern (1820-1895). As Cowes grew in popularity as a fashionable yachting centre for the rich and aristocratic, so Redfern’s beautifully tailored garments came to the notice of the crowds who descended for Cowes race week. In the 1870s the Redfern yachting suit or dress was swiftly becoming the most recognisably English mode of fashionable apparel. In this way, the Redfern label was essentially the first high-end sportswear brand. In 1879 Redfern revelled in a blaze of publicity for a jersey tailored suit they made for ‘The Jersey Lily’ – the Prince of Wales’ mistress Lily Langtree, which attracted even more new clients.

With the support of sons Ernest Redfern and Charles Poynter Redfern (1853-1929), John Redfern opened tailoring houses in London and Paris in 1881, followed by two shops in New York in 1884-85, one for tailoring, the other for furs. In 1888 Redfern were presented with a Royal warrant: ‘By Royal Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. The Princess of Wales’. By the early 1890s, due largely to the patronage of British and European royalty, Redfern’s Paris house had developed into a full-scale couture business with grand clientele. Ernest directed the London and New York branches, while Charles, and later, John Poynter Redfern, ran the Paris salon. From 1892, when Redfern’s sons took control of the business, the house became known as Redfern Ltd.

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