'Laura Ashley : From Kitchen to Catwalk'

Extended until Summer 2026

In 1953, inspired by a Women's Institute exhibition at the V and A Museum, Laura and Bernard Ashley started printing fabrics in their kitchen. They soon started selling tea towels, and in 1955 opened a showroom in Old Burlington Street in London.
Gardening aprons and smocks marked a move towards garments.
In 1959, Laura Ashley started to use flower motifs, something the company would become well known for. Once the Ashley family relocated to Mid Wales and opened a shop in Machylleth, Laura Ashley began to experiment with historical styles.

After initially having a small factory in Kent, an old social club in Carno provided a new location for the Welsh factory. Five years later, the company was so successful they moved to disused railway station to build a new factory.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, there was a boom in small British led boutiques that would shape the British high street for the next few decades. Along with other British female designers, such as Mary Quant and Barbara Hulanicki (Biba), Laura Ashley became a household name and her dresses, especially her floral, prairie-style, maxi dresses became highly desirable and synonymous with the era.

Throughout the 1970s, the Laura Ashley brand achieved international recognition and in 1980 they launched their homewares catalogue. Laura Ashley passed away in 1985 and the company was floated on the stock market.

By the 2000s, the brand had started to fall out of favour and focused back on homewares. The late 2010s and early 2020s started to see a revival for the brand as original pieces appeared in vintage shops but the company went into administration