| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Founder: Lewis Tomalin Majority owner: Harold Tillman CEO: Belinda Earl |
| Products | Clothing Accessories Shoes |
| Subsidiaries | Aquascutum |
Jaeger is a United Kingdom based high-end fashion brand and retailer of menswear and womenswear formed in 1884 by Lewis Tomalin (great grandfather of Nicholas Tomalin).
As of 2009, Jaeger had more than 90 stores and concessions in the UK and overseas, including a flagship store on London’s Regent Street.
The brand is named after the German zoologist and physiologist Dr Gustav Jaeger who advocated the benefits of clothing made of animal fibres rather than vegetable fibres.
Tomalin translated and published Jaeger’s teachings in English. In 1884, Tomalin opened a clothing store in London, named Dr Jaeger’s Sanitary Woollen System.
The company was acquired by the Coats textile group in 1967. The brand has always been associated with smart classic clothing but by the end of the 1990’s the company felt that the brand had a stuffy and old-fashioned image. Coats attempted to rejuvenate the brand in the early 2000s, hiring Bella Freud to design new clothing collections. The rejuvenation had limited success. It did not attract the younger customers as intended and probably alienated Jaeger’s existing middle-aged customers. [1]
After the ailing fortunes, Coats sold Jaeger for a nominal fee of £1 to entrepreneur Richard Thomson in 2003.
The new owners of Jaeger, Harold Tillman, acquired the lease on the Allders flagship store in Croydon from administrators Kroll in 2005 and continue to trade under the Allders name in Croydon.
In mid-March 2004, Belinda Earl was employed as CEO. More recently, the company has experienced positive recognition as a traditional British brand rejuvenating itself in a similar vein of fellow-British brand Burberry and Pringle of Scotland. In 2008, they appointed Stuart Stockdale as their new Design Director.[1]
Jaeger is not couture, but upwards in pricing, more expensive than High Street. During London Fashion Week, on February 10, 2008, Jaeger London's first fashion show took place at the British Fashion Council Tent. In 2009 Jaeger celebrates its 125th anniversary with the publication of a book documenting its century and a quarter in business.