The Classicist: From the Queen to McQueen

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
May 6th 2008 at 9:02AM

The history of the illustrious London luxury goods maker known today as Swaine Adeney Brigg goes back over 250 years. They've been supplying various items to Britain's Royal Family for 200 of them, and as those monarchs tend to be a traditional lot, the firm has basically remained unchanged in all that time. However, even this storied, not to say stodgy, company has decided it's time to freshen things up a bit. They recently brought in Alexander McQueen's former accessories chief Dominic Laurelli as design director to give SAB a much needed facelift.

Laurelli's first creation is the new St. James luggage collection. Laurelli tells us he drew on the understated elegance of 1920s luxury travel and the great Coco Chanel for inspiration, and says the St. James line is intended to be "synonymous with both traditional English leather goods and contemporary, modern style" (two words seldom heard around SAB). The collection is made from a durable anthracite tweed-like fabric with a water resistant backing and bridle leather detailing.

Gallery: Swaine Adeney Brigg

The new St. James collection by Dominic Laurelli.

Swaine Adeney Brigg actually started out as two separate businesses. In 1798 James Swaine purchased a Picadilly whip makers founded in 1750. Re-christened Swaine Adeney in 1845, it had long held royal appointments to His Majesty King George III, The Prince of Wales and the Dukes of York, Clarence and Kent, and expanded into superior leather goods. Meanwhile, Thomas Brigg and Son's was established in St. James' St. in 1836, furnishing the finest umbrellas, walking sticks and hunting crops. In 1893 Brigg received its first Royal Appointment from Her Majesty Queen Victoria and later King Edward VII, and Brigg umbrellas are used by the Royal Family to this day.

The two firms joined forces in 1943 when the occupation of Paris saw the loss of Brigg's boutique there, and henceforth became know as Swaine Adeney Brigg & Son's. Their London premises are situated at the heart of historic St James's alongside famous gentlemen's clubs such as Boodle's and Whites, and other storied firms including Davidoff, Christie's and Turnbull & Asser. The modernization does not affect the company's traditional craftsmanship. All the attaché cases, luggage and umbrellas are still produced in their Cambridgeshire workshops using the same methods employed 200 years ago. Each piece is handmade from the finest English bridle leather; the umbrellas use burnished woods, hand woven silks and sterling silver accents.

For the time being most of SAB's merchandise including the St. James collection is only available through their London store, although high-end retailers like Paul Stuart carry their umbrellas here. However, Laurelli tells Luxist the firm is looking to form an alliance with a luxury department store in the U.S. such as Bergdorf Goodman, which could conceivably house an in-store SAB boutique. We think it's a capital idea.

Tags: Alexander McQueen, AlexanderMcqueen, Bergdorf Goodman, BergdorfGoodman, Coco Chanel, CocoChanel, Dominic Laurelli, DominicLaurelli, London, Luggage, Paul Stuart, PaulStuart, Queen Victoria, QueenVictoria, Royal Family, RoyalFamily, St. Jamess, St.Jamess, Swaine Adeney Brigg, SwaineAdeneyBrigg, Turnbull Asser, TurnbullAsser, Umbrellas