Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers


Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers was a membership organisation founded in 1942 to promote the British fashion and textile industry and create luxury couture to sell abroad for the war effort. It aimed to build the relationship between government and fashion industry and represent the interests of London couturiers. The organisation continued after the war and sought to present itself as an alternative to the revived Paris couture industry.

Establishment

Some sources suggest Inc Soc was established by Harry Yoxall, managing editor of British Vogue, and others indicate it was the idea of Sir Cecil Weir of the Board of Trade.
Ernestine Carter states that the IncSoc had its origins in 1941 with an export collection sent to South America by the British Colour Council, designed by Charles Creed, Norman Hartnell, Edward Molyneux, Digby Morton, Peter Russell, Victor Stiebel and Worth London. Along with Bianca Mosca and Hardy Amies, all would go on to be founder-members of the IncSoc the following year, except Creed, who was the first designer voted in as a member.
In March 1942, on the invitation of the Board of Trade, the members of Inc Soc – all of whom were used to custom-creating designs for customers – designed 34 utility clothing garments suitable for mass manufacture in order to demonstrate how high-fashion elegance could be achieved within the strict rationing restrictions. Known as the Couturier Scheme, the project had a very high profile in the press at the time with a fashion show held to launch the clothes. The prototype models were featured in Vogue magazine and donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum later that year.

Post-war activities

Inc Soc had organised seasonal showings in each London couture house based on the Parisian couture system. After the war, Inc Soc coordinated spring and autumn collections in London with the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris to allow cash-rich overseas buyers to take in both cities' collections.
In 1949, members of Inc Soc showcased British fashion in the film Maytime in Mayfair in a sequence that showed models wearing an outfit by each of the ten member designers.
In July 1968, The Guardian reported that although associate membership for makers of hats, gloves, shoes and other accessories had been wound up, the society continued with Edward Rayne as chairman and Lady Hartwell as president.
By 1969, IncSoc was reported to be struggling due to high taxes and overheads and competition from London's booming ready-to-wear designers. Most had added ready-to-wear designs to shore up their businesses. In January that year the society – which had shrunk from 12 to seven members over the previous six years – announced it would no longer host a group fashion event for UK and international buyers. Instead, each designer would host an individual show. The organisation was still extant in 1974, but disbanded soon afterwards.

Membership

The founding members were nicknamed the "Big Eight" in the press of the time. By 1949 they had become the "Big Ten" or "Top Ten of Fashion". The fashion journalist Ernestine Carter recalled in 1974: "At one point we called them the Top Ten, another the First Eleven, once the Baker's Dozen, then a Rowing Eight. Finally, we stopped giving them numbers at all." Each new member needed to receive the votes of at least two-thirds of the existing members. Normally, the designer had to have shown at least four collections before being considered for membership, although some later members achieved this faster, due to the strength of their work.

IncSoc members and joining dates

Listings show joining date, where known, and were originally published in an article in Costume, the journal of the Costume Society, in 2001. The couture house of Rahvis is not included in that article, but was listed as among the members in the 1960s in UK and international newspaper reports. In 1974, Ernestine Carter put together a potted history of the Society with the assistance of Ann Ryan, who administrated the Society between 1956 and 1960. They noted that Norman Hartnell, Hardy Amies, and Rahvis were the last three remaining members of the Society, with the shoemaker Edward Rayne, 'though not defunct, in abeyance.'
According to Carter and Ryan, the presidents of the society and their dates were:
The chairs were: