Berlei

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Berlei is a brand of women's lingerie and in particular bras and girdles[1]. The brand originated in Australia in 1917[2][3]. Berlei undergarments are now sold in Australia by Pacific Brands and in the United Kingdom by Courtaulds Textiles.

The name came from that of the firm's founder, Frederick R. Burley, who felt that his name as normally spelled was not appropriate to his products.

Berlei Limited was one of the first Australian companies to expand outside Australia[4]. Berlei (New Zealand) Limited was incorporated in 1923 and Berlei (U.K.) Limited was organised in 1930.

Contents

[edit] Founder

Frederick R. Burley (May 29, 1885, Hamilton, Victoria - May 26, 1954, Wahroonga, New South Wales) was the founder of Berlei.

Burley was a pioneer in employee relations and an accomplished public citizen, holding office in the Rotary Club and contributing to other worthy organizations.

In 1923 he founded the Australian Made Preference League and served as the first president of the League. The League created the Great White Train as a promotional tool for early Australian industries. [5]

The movie Undercover was made about the early years of the Berlei company and the life of Frederick R Burley.[6]

Frederick R. Burley was also related to the founder of the Burley Football company, Joseph Leonard Burley.

[edit] History of Berlei Limited and associated companies

Berlei Limited was started (in 1910) as a company called Unique Corsets in Sydney, Australia after Fred Burley discovered that the corset business was profitable and that the wholesale segment of the business could be prosecuted on an import replacement basis. Fred made his first overseas business trip to the US in 1913 to learn methods and machines of the time. The brand name of Berlei was coined soon after and was registered in Australia in 1917. United Corsets became Berlei Limited in 1920.

Burley House in Regent Street, Sydney
Burley House in Regent Street, Sydney

The original factory was in Wilmot Street, Sydney with additional space being used in Liverpool Street.

In January 1922 the factory was moved to Berlei House in Regent Street.[7].

Fred Burley's vision for the company was "To Design and Manufacture Corsets and Brassieres of such perfect Fit, Quality, and Workmanship, as will bring pleasure and profit to all concerned, while at the same time rendering such excellant service to our Clients and Consumers as will merit their permanent patronage".

Berlei's approach to marketing was professional.[8]

[edit] Berlei (NZ) Limited

Berlei (New Zealand) Limited was started in 1923 with a staff of fifty growing to 665 employees in 1961[9].

Bendon Berlei Limited merged with Ceramco Apparel Group Limited on 8 April 1981.


[edit] Berlei (UK) Limited

A branch of the Australian company was opened in the United Kingdom in 1930 with staff of forty the company grew to a staff of 702 in 1961[10].

Berlei (UK) was purchased from Berlei Hestia of Australia in 1982[11].

Berlei (UK) called in a receiver in November 1985[12], subsequently it was purchased by Courtaulds Textiles.

In March 2000 Courtaulds Textiles was sold to Sara Lee [13]. Sara Lee sold Courtaulds Textiles to Hong Kong based PD Enterprise Limited in May 2006 [14].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Anon3
  2. ^ Clune, 1961, p. 438
  3. ^ Australian trademark #21931
  4. ^ Clune, p. 439
  5. ^ Anon1
  6. ^ Quinlivan, B.
  7. ^ Clune, 1961
  8. ^ Maynard
  9. ^ Clune, P 438
  10. ^ Clune, P 439
  11. ^ Warner
  12. ^ Warner
  13. ^ Anon4
  14. ^ Klinger, 2006

.

[edit] References

Anon1. The Great White Touring Train visit to Wagga. Wagga Wagga City Council. Archived from the original on 2008-03-19.

Anon2. The History of Berlei Lingerie and its Solution Led Design. Lingerie Uncovered. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.

Anon3. Superbrands. Superbrands Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 2008-04-18.

Anon4 (Feb 2000). Courtaulds bows to £150m takeover. BBC News. Archived from the original on 2008-03-02.

Anon5. The History of The Berlei Group - The Life of Fred Burley. Berlei Limited. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27.

Anon6. The History of The Berlei Group - Time Line. Berlei Limited. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27.

Best, Sue (1991). Foundations of femininity: Berlei corsets and the (un)making of the modern body. Archived from the original on 2008-04-24.

Clune, Frank (1961). Saga of Sydney, 437-440. 

Elfick, David (Producer). (1983). Undercover [DVD]. Sydney, Australia: Filmco / Palm Beach Pictures.

Griffin, Michelle (2004-09-29). Beating the bounce. The Age, Melbourne. Archived from the original on 2008-04-18.

Hyslop, Anthea. Burley, Frederick Richard (1885 - 1954). Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.

Klinger, Peter (May 2006). Sara Lee offloads Courtaulds division. The Times. Times Online. Archived from the original on 2008-03-25.

Maynard, Margaret (1999). "Living dolls: The fashion model in Australia". Journal of Popular Culture 33 (1): p 191-205. 

Maynard, Margaret (2007-03-01). "'Lady be beautiful': selling corsets in the 1920s.". Journal of Australian Studies 91: p 145(9). 

Ryan, Sue. Berlei - Corporate entry. Cyberfibres. RMIT University.. Archived from the original on 2008-04-04.

Quinlivan, B.. "Pioneer proved Berlei bras fitted the nation just fine", Financial Review (Sydney), May 7, 1982, pp. 19. 

Warner, Jeremy. "Berlei calls in receiver as bank acts", The Times (London), 1985-11-30, pp. 2. 

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