Henri Lloyd 1963

Clothing Company; Manchester;

1963 - set up by Angus Lloyd and Henri Stzelecki.; Became popular fashion brand particularly with football fans.

Manchester based outdoor clothing company Henri Lloyd was set up in 1963 by Angus Lloyd and Henri Strzelecki. Strzelecki was a member of the Polish Army during WW2 and was awarded British and Polish medals for his service. He came to settle in Manchester after the War, where he studied textiles and design before working for local clothing companies in the city, where he became known simply as Mr.Henri. In the early 1960s, man-made fibres were still in their infancy, but Mr.Henri realised the potential of a new technical fabric being produced by ICI called 'Bri-Nylon' (British Nylon). As a keen sailor, he was frustrated with the lack of available clothing able to withstand the marine environment. He formed Henri Lloyd with Angus Lloyd in 1963, setting up in a converted chapel in Salford, and the company began manufacturing sailing wear, employing Nylon and other new man-made fibre technologies. Amongst their innovations was the first non-corrosive zip, made out of Nylon and the first Velcro closure in waterproof clothing. Henri Lloyd soon gained a reputation amongst the world's top adventurers- their clothing was worn by Sir Frances Chichester in 1966 when he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe, as well as Sir Ranulph Fiennes during his Transglobe Expedition. Today, Henri Lloyd still has its headquarters in Manchester and the company continues to focus on innovation and new technology in sailing wear. They were the first to use Gore-Tex for outdoor wear in 1994 and in 2001, won a prestigious marine equipment design award. Henri Strzelecki was awarded an MBE in 1985 for his work. Henri Lloyd recently produced a range for Macclesfield born Olympic gold medallist sailor Ben Ainslie. The company also branched out into fashion, leisure wear and footwear, which reached a height of popularity in the late 1990s, when the company won UK Fashion Brand of the Year in 1997. The Henri Lloyd fashion brand became popular amongst so called 'Football Casuals', a sub-culture of football fans in the 1980s and 1990s.