John Smedley

230 years of heritage

Established in 1784, John Smedley is the oldest manufacturing factory in the world, crafting beautiful, high quality garments that are designed to last, made in Britain and distributed the world over. In 1825 the company moved on to producing more complex garments using one of the first ever fully fashioned knitting machines, creating the original “Long Johns”. Since the 1950’s John Smedley became the brand of choice for many famous faces, including Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, James Bond, the Beatles and also the British Royal Family.

The world’s finest knitwear

John Smedley is considered as the world’s finest knitwear producer. The fame of the company was made through its historical know-how and the use of high quality fabrics such as Merino wool from New Zealand, cashmere, silk and Sea Island cotton. Each Smedley garment is carefully created using 1.5km of the finest yarn, 1.2 million stitches, 230 years of experience and the skilled hands of 50 British craftsmen.