Sunspel's Heritage, Craft & Style

THOMAS ARTHUR HILL

Thomas Arthur Hill founded Sunspel. He was born in 1822, the 11th of 12 children, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. His father, John Pinkerton Hill, was a hosiery maker in Nottingham and Thomas followed his father into the hosiery and lace trade.

TEXTILES INNOVATOR

Steam power was about to usher in a period of enormous worldwide change. The textile industry was one of the earliest manufacturing sectors to embrace this change and Thomas Hill found himself at the heart of it.

Thomas Hill was not only one of the great early British industrialists but also a fabric innovator.

CELLULAR COTTON

Sunspel founder Thomas Hill pioneered the use of lace-making technology in the late 1800s, creating a unique 100% cotton cellular fabric.

1860: SUNSPEL IS ESTABLISHED

Thomas Hill opened his textile factory in Newdigate, Nottingham, which was to become the centre of the British lace making industry. He used his fabric expertise to make lightweight, soft clothing in very fine cotton and pioneered the development of luxury undergarments, as we know them today.

SUNSPEL ARCHIVE GARMENT

Some of the earliest garments made in the Newdigate factory included tunics and undershirts that were some of the earliest t-shirts ever made.

1918-1929: WORLD EXPORT

At the beginning of the 20th Century Sunspel built a significant export business across what was then the British Empire and was one of the earliest British companies to export to the Far East. Company records show that a shipment of Sunspel garments due for Hong Kong and China was aboard the N.Y.K Hirano Maru, which was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat in the Irish Sea in 1918.

SEA ISLAND COTTON

Sunspel developed it’s unique Sea Island cotton fabrics sourced from the West Indies in the beginning of the 20th century. The long-staple fibre gives the yarn notable strength and smooth, premium softness. It is regarded as one of the world’s rarest and most luxurious cottons, it makes up only 0.0004% of the world’s cotton supplies.

1930S: 'SUNNY' AND 'SPELL'

The Sunspel logo was created in the 1930s, playing with the words 'sunny and 'spell'. The link to the sun came from the company’s reputation for the use of Sea Island yarns across undershirts and underwear by the early 20th Century.

The name Sunspel, refers to the almost magical balance of sun, humidity, and rain in the Sea Islands, that ensured this rare high quality yarn thrived. Coming to define the Sea Island cotton era of Sunspel.

1929-1937: SURVIVING THE GREAT DEPRESSION

The near total collapse of world trade after the financial crash of 1929 forced the company to contract. The factory moved from Nottingham to Long Eaton, where it remains today and the business focused on selling its premium line of Sea Island cotton underwear.

1939-1945: THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The outbreak of war again changed the company’s direction, driving it temporarily away from luxury products to the production of utility garments for the war effort. Sunspel’s offices in Bruton Street, London, suffered a direct hit during the Blitz.

1947: THE BOXER SHORT

In 1947 John Hill left the post-war gloom of Britain for the glamour of boom time America. Influenced by the ideas and innovations of New York he saw the opportunity to bring the boxer short to the UK. John Hill not only brought the boxer short back from America, he also perfected its design.

FOR COMFORT

The first Sunspel boxers were made from Sea Island cotton and designed for comfort. They were cut with a unique back panel (to avoid a middle seam) and all seams were double turned and feld locked flat to the fabric to avoid itchiness. Sunspel boxers continue to be made in the finest fabrics and to this original pattern.

Style journalist and author Robert Elms has said;

“Before the boy in the launderette, nobody wore boxers. Almost overnight, men who would once have seen boxer shorts as stuffily old-fashioned were buying boxers in their droves. And ever since, a pair of white cotton Sunspel’s has been the boxer of choice of those in the know.”

2006: DRESSING JAMES BOND

The Sunspel name has been synonymous with the quintessential style of James Bond ever since Daniel Craig wore it in his role as 007 in Casino Royale. Sunspel began a close association with British cinema when approached to develop for Daniel Craig’s debut as James Bond. Craig wore the Riviera Polo Shirt in the opening sequence of Casino Royale and it became synonymous with the new modern image of the Bond franchise.

THE RIVIERA POLO SHIRT

The Riviera Polo Shirt is made from warp knit cotton fabric invented in the 1950s by Peter Hill, the grandson of the company’s founder. Unsatisfied with the pique polo shirts that were available at the time, he sought to create a version that would be cool and comfortable to wear in the hot summer sun of the Riviera.

THE MODERN T-SHIRT

It was around this time that the Sunspel t-shirt reached its now-iconic simplicity: the buttons which had originally featured below the neck were gone, long sleeves were now short, and cuffs, pockets and collars were all removed.

MADE IN ENGLAND

The t-shirt remains Sunspel’s core style. Since 1860, Sunspel have been innovating ways to make t-shirts as soft, light and as comfortable as possible.

Today’s styles are almost identical to the original fifties models – only updated with a unique two-fold jersey fabric, a descendant of the original lisle cotton Sunspel used on some of the earliest t-shirts ever made. Sunspel’s classic crew neck t-shirts are made in England.