Alan Paine Clothing
Brand Heritage
Alan Paine – Celebrating over 100 years of tradition
Alan Paine was born in September 1907, the second son of William and Jesse Paine, at a time when his father was struggling to establish his tailoring business at 72 High Street, Godalming in Surrey. Godalming was then a small town with a long history of woollen production. The family home was a lovely Elizabethan building with a large garden and an old timbered warehouse. William discovered some hand knitting machines in the old warehouse and taught himself to knit. Within a few years his hobby became a business with him; arguably developing the first cable knit sweaters. He found a useful outlet at the local Charterhouse school.
These sweaters quickly grew popular with sportsmen and women at a time when sports of all kinds were becoming fashionable. In the 1920’s, the “club colour trim” was added to a plain sweater and before long the club colours were worn by every rowing, tennis and cricket club. Records of the many different club and college colours were carefully recorded and specially dyed wools were stocked to match the club silk ties.
An extremely high quality Alan Paine men's tweed waistcoat with a contrasting satin back. Top of the range mens country waistcoat with satin lined back. Free UK mainland delivery with all orders over £100 Action back for ease of movement. Ticket pocket. Adjustable back strap. Contrast lining matching the overcheck. Water repellent tweed out...
This Alan Paine Ladies tweed jacket is a high quality ladies shooting jacket with waterproof breathable membrane. A waterproof and breathable tweed shooting jacket. Free UK Mainland delivery with all orders over £100 Soft contrast inner collar for comfort. Two large cartridge pockets with drainage eyelets. Two handwarmer pockets with flaps for retain...
This Alan Paine ladies long tweed coat is a quality tailored tweed jacket in a longer length. Free UK mainland delivery with all orders over £100 Velvet trim to collar and pocket flaps. Contrast satin lining to match the velvet trim. Sleeve buttons. Two internal breast pockets. Water repellent tweed long coat To discover more about Alan ...
The Alan Paine Ladies Tweed Waistcoat in 100% wool tweed. A tailored fit ladies waistcoat to co-ordinate with the rest of the Compton Alan Paine tweed range. Free UK mainland delivery with all orders over £100 Action back with velvet lined back vent. Detachable belt on back. Lining and velvet trim to match the overcheck. Available in sizes 8-16 ...
Alan Paine Clothing
The style of the cable sweater soon became a favourite of the Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VIII. Sales of Alan Paine knitwear increased and the company was able to widen its outlets into London and throughout the rest of the country.
During the Second World War, his company was commissioned to produce sweaters for the armed forces, being particularly favoured by the Royal Navy. These garments were knitted using traditional worsted wool. After the war, the company heralded a new era when Alan Paine, William’s son, took over from his father. The business was renamed ‘Alan Paine’, this subsequently being changed to ‘Alan Paine of Godalming’. A true entrepreneur, Alan Paine’s re-launched business became one of the first UK government sponsored companies to embark on a post war export scheme and in the early 1950’s he travelled to the United States of America.
This was the first of many trans-Atlantic voyages for Alan as the business grew. This growth was rapid and by the early 1960’s sound trading relationships had been established with all the major US department stores, notably Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Brooks Brothers. Alan’s bi-annual trips across the Atlantic each took up to 10 weeks.
In the 1970’s Alan’s two sons joined him in the business and the focus moved to developing the European market. A unique partnership with a key Scandinavian distributor was created, which continues to this day, and other agencies were established in Italy, Spain, France and Germany. The company continued to flourish,
with its products and the ‘Alan Paine’ name, being synonymous with quality and style.
The 1980’s and 1990’s were difficult times for knitwear producers, including Alan Paine; the Paine family sold the business in the early 1990’s. Several years later, James Hinton, who joined Alan Paine in 1986, became the proud owner of Alan Paine.
Over recent years the brand has developed far beyond their core base of classic knitwear to incorporate a successful English Lifestyle range into the collection, featuring complementary jackets, coats, shirts and sports coats. More recently, Alan Paine has launched its exciting Country Collection, a range of stylish classic and contemporary coats, jackets, waistcoats and accessories for both men and women in a variety of stunning fabrics, all offering the characteristic quality associated with Alan Paine.
The company still holds the same traditional values that were the backbone of the company under Mr Alan Paine’s leadership. Today, Alan Paine is based in the heart of the British countryside and continues to utilise British design skills. They are still committed to the original philosophy and high standards of excellence set by Alan Paine all those years ago.
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