The History of Lee Cooper

Lee Cooper's history dates all the way back to 1908. Morris Cooper started a company producing industrial work wear and overalls. The beginning of the first world war saw the factory diversify and it began producing uniforms for the British army, it was only after the second world war ended the name became associated with fashion. The name of the business was changed to Lee Cooper, after the wife of Morris' son, Harold.

Denim had not been popular through out the 30’s and 40’s but the Lee Cooper Company reinvented jeans and are often referred to as “The great British jeans brand”
Prior to this denim was considered work wear, it was only prior to the war that they began to be worn for fashion purposes.

Morris died in 1940 in a tragic car accident, when his son Harold returned from serving in the RAF he took over at the helm of Lee Cooper.
   
By the 1950's, screen icons like James Dean made jeans cool, and their popularity soared. Jeans were being worn leisurely, especially by young people, females who previously had not worn denim began to wear jeans when Lee Cooper produced the first front zipped pair for women.

By the end of the 1950’s Lee Cooper were not predominantly producing jeans, they had also begun to produce children’s clothes, & dressing gowns from their newly acquired factory in Holland

Through out the next 50 years Lee Cooper began to diversify even further, producing full clothing lines, and expanding their outlet into Europe

2008 saw Lee Cooper celebrating its 100 year anniversary, in this year they also produced the British teams uniform for the Beijing Olympic games.