Rigby & Peller

Rigby & Peller
Industry Fashion
Founded 1939 (1939)
Founder
  • Gita Peller
  • Bertha Rigby
Headquarters Schellebelle, Belgium
Number of locations
 Nine
Services Lingerie
Parent Van de Velde N.V.
Website rigbyandpeller.com
Rigby & Peller, Bow Lane, London EC4, 2018

Rigby & Peller is a British luxury lingerie brand and retailer. The company was founded in 1939 by Gita Peller, a Jewish Hungarian refugee who settled in London, and Bertha Rigby, an English corsetière, with a shop in South Molton Street in London's West End.[1] As of 2011, they had seven stores as well as a website.[2][3]

In 1960[4] the company began providing bespoke undergarments to the Queen of the United Kingdom;[5] they subsequently provided their products to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, Diana Princess of Wales, Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York, as well as other members of the extended royal family.[1] In addition to the royal family, the company has also sold products to Hollywood actresses, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson,[6] and musicians, such as Lady Gaga.[1] Another notable supporter of Rigby & Peller was magazine editor Isabella Blow, who would sometimes wear the company's brassieres as outerwear in public.[4] As of 11th January 2018 they have lost their Royal warrant due to a autobiographical book written by June Kenton titled Storm in D-Cup and published in 2017 advising about her trips to Buckingham Palace.[7]

In 1982 Rigby & Peller was purchased for £20,000 by June Kenton and her husband Harold. They were assisted in the management of the company by their children, Jill Kenton and David Kenton.[1] In 2011 Van de Velde N.V., a Belgian brassiere manufacturer, purchased a majority stake in Rigby & Peller. Van de Velde, which paid £8 million for an 87 percent stake in the company, had previously supplied Rigby & Peller with some of their products. The cost of Rigby & Peller's brassieres ranges between £50 and £200[1] and they offer sizes up to a J cup. In the 21st century, the company has experienced some difficulty in competing with larger, better-known rivals and discount retailers.[6]

June Kenton has placed an emphasis on providing women with correctly fitting brassieres,[5] and the company was once known for its unique bra-fitting. (Other lingerie retailers have adopted similar techniques).[6] Although Kenton personally measured the royal family, she refuses to discuss the particular undergarments they wear.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wood, Zoe (17 August 2011). "Royal corsetmaker Rigby & Peller sold". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "The Business On... June Kenton, Proprietor, Rigby & Peller". The Independent. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Bevan, Kate (26 October 2005). "Online bra fitting". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  4. 1 2 Crowe, Lauren Goldstein (2010). Isabella Blow: A Life in Fashion. MacMillan. p. 94. ISBN 0312592949.
  5. 1 2 3 Dullea, Georgia (27 April 1988). "Of Corsets and Things Meant for Her Majesty And Ladies of Her Ilk". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Frankel, Susannah (2 November 2010). "Queen's corsetier hits hard times as bra wars intensify". Nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  7. ↑ BBC News: Queen's bra fitter Rigby & Peller loses royal warrant

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