Montague Burton: The Tailor of Taste.

Abstract

Montague Burton arrived in Britain from Lithuania at the age of fifteen. From retail clothing in Chesterfield his firm expanded into the wholesale bespoke branch of men's clothing and came to dominate the industry. By 1939 it had 600 shops, 20,000 employees and a capital that had grown from #100 to #12 million. During the war Burton clothed a quarter of the armed forces and was the world's largest enterprise of its kind. Apart from his industrial dominance Burton changed the appearance of middle and working-class males and his shop fronts always promoted a modern image. In an industry all too often stigmatised for the exploitation of workers he was an enlightened employer whose factories were a model of welfare provision. Also a major charitable benefactor, Montague Burton remains perhaps the least recognised major entrepreneur of the first half of the century. This analysis is based on research in the archives as well as close familiarity with the history of the textile and clothing industry.

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