Sir Edwin Hardy Amies, KCVO (17 July 1909 - 5 March 2003), was a British fashion designer, best known for being the dress designer for HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Born in London, he was the son of a civil servant and a saleswoman at a firm that made clothing for members of the Royal Court. Amies was educated at Brentwood School, Essex, leaving in 1927.
Although his father wanted him to attend Cambridge University, Hardy trained as an English language teacher in Antibes, and then travelled to Europe, where he spent three years in France and then Bendorf, Germany learning the languages.
Lachasse
On return to England in 1930, he secured a trainee position with W & T Avery Ltd. Ltd. in Birmingham. At the age of 25, in 1934 he became managing designer for Lachasse, 1934.
World War Two
At the out break of World War Two, with his language experience Amies was called up to serve in the Special Operations Executive. Amies suspected that SOE's commander Major General Colin Gubbins did not regard a dressmaker as suitable military material, but his training report stated:
Posted to Belgium, Amies adapted names of fashion accessories for use as code words, while managing some of the most murderous and ruthless agents in the field. Amies rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, glbtq >> arts >> Amies, Sir Hardy but outraged his superiors in 1944 by setting up a Vogue photo-shoot in Belgium post D-Day. In 1946, he was Knighted in Belgium, being a Named Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne.
Hardy Amies Ltd.
During the entire war, Amies had designed clothes for the British Board of Trade under the government Utility Scheme, which complied with the ration book standard. As Lachasse had closed at the start of the war, he also designed ready-made clothes for Worth.
In 1946 he established his own couture fashion house business, Hardy Amies Ltd, after buying the bombed out shell of a house that was 14 Savile Row. Although Savile Row is the home of English bespoke tailoring, the Hardy Amies brand developed to become known for its classic and beautifully tailored clothes for both men and women. Amies was vice-chairman of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers from 1954 to 56, and chairman from 1959 to 60.
Amies was successful in business by being able to commercially extract value from his designs, while not replicating his brand to the point of exploitation. Amies was one of the first European designers to venture into the ready-to-wear market when he teamed up with Hepworths in 1959 to design a range of menswear. In 1961, Amies made fashion history by staging the first men's ready-to-wear catwalk shows, at the Ritz Hotel in London. The Hardy Amies name is still licensed globally, particularly popular in Japan.
Amies also undertook design for in-house work wear, which developed from designing special clothes for the England 1966 World Cup team, the 1972 British Olympic squad; and groups such as the Oxford University Boat Club and London Stock Exchange. Amies also designed costumes for films, including A Space Odyssey.
In May 1973, Amies sold the business to Debenhams, which had already purchased Hepworths which distributed the Hardy Amies line. Amies purchased the business back in 1981. In May 2001, Amies sold his business to the Luxury Brands Group. He retired at the end of the year, when Moroccan-born designer Jacques Azagury became head of couture. In November 2008, after going bankrupt, the Hardy Amies brand was acquired by Fung Capital, the private investment arm of Victor and William Fung, who together control the Li & Fung group.
Dress designer for HM Queen Elizabeth II
Amies is best known to the British public for his work for Queen Elizabeth II. The association began in 1950, when Amies made several outfits for the then Princess Elizabeth's royal tour to Canada. Although the couture side of the Hardy Amies business was traditionally less financially successful, the award of a Royal Warrant as official dressmaker in 1955 given his house a degree of respectability and resultant publicity. One of his best known creations is the gown he designed in 1977 for Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee portrait which, he said, was "immortalized on a thousand biscuit tins." Knighted in 1989, Amies held the warrant until 1990, when he gave it up so that younger designers could create for the Queen.
Personal life
Initially discreet about his homosexuality, Amies became more relaxed and candid in his old age on the topic, and when speaking of his royal dressmaking rival Sir Norman Hartnell, he commented:
Amies and his partner, Ken Fleetwood (who was design director of Hardy Amies Ltd), were together for 43 years until Fleetwood's death in 1996. Amies died at home in 2003, aged 93.
Having written a regular column for Esquire magazine on men's fashion for a while, in 1964 Amies published the book ABC of Men's Fashion. Amies's strict male dress code — with commandments on everything from socks to the summer wardrobe — made compelling reading:
Don't make everything match: "To achieve the nonchalance which is absolutely necessary for a man, one article at least must not match. For instance, you can wear a dark blue suit and tie with a pale blue shirt and navy blue socks, but you must then have a patterned silk handkerchief say in dark red or a paisley design of green and brown; or you could stick to a blue handkerchief and have dark red socks."
Beware the bow-tie wearer: "By day, often in patterned or spotted foulard, it is usually worn by individualists ... On less genial characters, it can have an aggressive air and can arouse some kind of resentment at first meeting of a new acquaintance."
Avoid sandals and shorts: "Always wear a collar and tie in a town, even if it's by the sea, after six o'clock. Never wear shorts except actually on the beach or on a walking tour. All short sleeve shirts look ghastly. Sandals are hell, except on the beach where you want to take them off: or on a boat. And, worn with socks are super hell."
Men can wear red: "Scarlet is perhaps the most masculine of all colours, but its very flamboyancy limits its use."
Don't overlook slippers: "Grandest of all are velvet slippers, with your monogram or crest embroidered in gold thread. These you can dine in, at home of course."
Never turn up your trousers: "You can't have any."
Spend money on a belt: "You should always try and buy, or get given, the most expensive belt possible ... It should preferably be the same colour as your shoes: and, if you are very natty, it could be in the same leather as your wrist strap."
Pay attention to socks: "The matching of socks to the tie I find affected."
Don't be scared of fur: "The modern young man is now so sure of his virility that I think he will take the risk, in the not too distant future, of wearing a coat made entirely of fur."
When in July 2009, the Hardy Amies designer archive was opened on Savile Row, the Victoria & Albert Museum reissued the book.
