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| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Personal care |
| Founded | 1770 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Products | Perfumes and cosmetics |
| Parent | Wipro |
| Website | www |
Yardley of London is the oldest cosmetics, perfume and toiletry company in the world. Although the House of Yardley was formally established by William Yardley in 1770, during the reign of Charles the I, who occupied the throne from March 1625 until his execution in 1649, Jonathan Yardley paid a substantial sum and was granted a Royal Warrant to produce soaps for the entire City of London. The exact date of the founding of the company was lost to history during the great fire of London in 1666,but from the evidence we have, it is clear the company was in existence prior to 1649. Yardley was a major producer of soap and perfumery by the beginning of the 20th century. By 1910, it moved to London's Bond Street, and in 1921 Yardley received its first Royal Warrant. Today, Yardley holds two Royal Warrants.
History
Yardley, then known as Yardley & Statham, exhibits at The Great Exhibition in 1851 in The Crystal Palace. That same year, the company changes its name to Yardley & Co. Yardley & Statham exhibited soap and perfume including a soap called Old Brown Windsor, which was embossed with a picture of Windsor Castle and was one of their first production soaps.
Yardley's signature scent is English Lavender, which was launched in 1873. English Lavender was popular during the Victorian Era in England and was imported to the USA in the 1880s where it became popular in American households. The lavender that Yardley uses in their products is the variety Lavandula angustifolia, which is specially grown for Yardley in the South of England. The variety of lavender used by Yardley was selected by the company in the 1930s after a several year search for the finest variety.
Due to the growing popularity of Yardley soaps and cosmetics at the turn of the 20th century, the company opened a shop in 1910 on Bond Street in London. The original Yardley shop on Bond Street was at 8 New Bond Street, but it later moved to 33 Old Bond Street.
In 1913, Yardley adopted Francis Wheatley's "Flowersellers" painting from his "Cries of London" series as their new corporate logo. The yellow primroses being sold in baskets in the painting are replaced by the company with sheaths of lavender.
In 1967, British model Twiggy becomes the new face of Yardley. The company sold "Twiggy Eyelashes," "Twiggy Paint" and other cosmetics with her as the spokesmodel. Yardley became a symbol of "Swinging London" and was associated with the 1960s British youth culture of miniskirts, Carnaby Street and mod fashions.
In 1998 Yardley was placed into receivership after a year of marketing attempts to update its old-fashioned image.
Britain's fifth richest Indian family, the Jatanias, bought out Yardley in October 2005 for £60 million and integrated it into its Lornamead company.
Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting acquired Yardley in certain markets including Asia, Middle East, Australasia as well as North and West Africa for $45.5 million. In August 2012, Wipro purchased the UK/European division from Lornamead, with the exception of Germany and Austria, where Lornamead still holds the rights to the brand.
Brands
English Blazer was a men's fragrance and lotion introduced by Yardley in 1989 or 1991 and discontinued in 1998. The brand was relaunched in the early 2010s with a completely rewritten history, including a claimed launch date of 1951.
Royal Warrants
Yardley has had a long association with the British Royal Family and has been awarded the Royal Warrant of Appointment six times. The company has supplied several British monarchs with toiletries.
- 1921 – Edward, Prince of Wales, "Perfumers and fine soap makers"
- 1932 – Queen Mary, "Perfumer"
- 1949 – George VI, "Purveyors of soap"
- 1955 – Elizabeth II, "Manufacturers of soap"
- 1960 – Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, "Perfumers and manufacturers"
- 1995 – Charles, Prince of Wales, "Manufacturers of toilet preparations"
See also
References
- Haig, Matt (2005). Brand Failures: The Truth about thing of the company is lost to history 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Time. Kogan Page Series. Kogan Page Publishers. p. 251. ISBN 9780749444334.
Yardley was founded in London in 1770 by William Yardley, a purveyor or swords, spurs and buckles for the aristocracy. He took over a lavender soap business from his son-in-law William Cleaver who had gambled away his inheritance.
- "About Us". Yardley London. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- Guthrie, Jonathan (November 16, 2006). "Transcript: Mike Jatania". Financial Times.
- "Yardley - quintessentially British". HPCi Media Limited. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
- "A little history about Yardley London's soaps". Yardley London Ltd. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
- "English Lavender by Yardley, 1873". Basenotes. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
- ^ "All About Yardley London". Yardley London Ltd. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
- "Beauty Icon:Yardley English Lavender". Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
- "Yardley Shop front". English Heritage. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- ^ "Yardley London Historical Timeline" (PDF). Lornamead Group. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
- "Yardley's 'Lavender Girls'". Newham Council. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- "Wheatley's Cries of London". Spitalfields Life. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
- "Twiggy - Voguepedia". Vogue. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- Brainstorm:Surviving and Thriving in the New Consumer-Led Marketplace. Macmillan. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- "Yardley, no longer smelling of roses, goes into receivership". The Independent. 27 August 1998.
- Lall, Rashmee Roshan (May 3, 2006). "Jatanias buy America's biggest hair-care brands". Times of India.
- Deepti Chaudhary and K. Raghu. "Wipro buys some Yardley businesses for $45.5 million". livemint.com. November 6, 2009
- ^ "The Encyclopaedia of Perfume - Émilie - Eraine".
- Cloud, Barbara (20 October 1991). "Blazer still blazin': Classic jacket dresses variety of occasions". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- "English Blazer: World-Class Original Fragrances for Men". Retrieved 5 February 2013.