Evans is a women's clothing retailer located in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and around the world. It sells

plus-size clothing Plus-size clothing is clothing proportioned specifically for people above the average clothing size. The application of the term varies from country to country, and according to which industry the person is involved in. According to ''PLUS Model' ...

, lingerie, wide-fitting shoes, swimwear and accessories.

Timeline

* Evans was founded in 1930 by the manufacturer Jack Green. * After 40 years as a limited company, the Burton Group (later

Arcadia Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BH ...

) acquired Evans and it became a public company. * Mail order purchases were introduced in 1972, just after Evans had expanded to over 77 branches nationwide. * In 1988, Evans became the market leader in womenswear above a UK size 14. * In 1994, the first Evans brochure featured in ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'' and ''Prima'' magazines, consisting of just 12 pages. * In 1997, Evans launched SeVen, a more fashion-led label for the younger customers and also became the first Arcadia brand to start selling online. * In 1998, Helen Teague and her comedian partner

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...

launched the 1647 range, exclusively designed for Evans. * In 2007,

Crystal Renn Crystal Renn (born June 18, 1986, in Miami, Florida) is an American model and author. Personal life Renn started her modeling career in high fashion at the age of 14 after being spotted by a professional scout in her hometown in Clinton, Missis ...

became the official face of Evans, featuring in the first TV advertising campaign and all in-store merchandising. * In 2009,

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and Tin ...

of the indie rock band

the Gossip Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hannah ...

launched the Beth Ditto at Evans collection, also exclusive to the retailer. * In 2011, launched in USA and started providing delivery services to over 100 countries. Evans - Lands Lane (geograph 1964680)

Evans' parent company Arcadia entered

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

in November 2020. The following month, Australian fashion retailer

City Chic Collective City Chic Collective () (CCC), founded as Miller's Retail in 1992, and rebranded in December 2006 to Specialty Fashion Group, is an Australian retail clothing company. It is headquartered in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria. Miller's Retail Mi ...

reached an agreement with Arcadia's administrators to purchase the Evans brand, website and wholesale business for £23 million. The deal did not include the retailer's stores.

Designers at Evans

, in collaboration with head of design Lisa Marie Peacock, launched her first plus-size clothing collection for Evans on 9 July 2009. Ditto provided sketches and drew inspiration from her favourite vintage and charity shop clothes as well as bands like Blondie,

The Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...

and

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

, and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

movements. Some of the most popular items in the first collection included a domino-print dress and leggings, a stained glass-effect printed dress and a royal blue jumpsuit, as well as a biker jacket, denim pencil skirt and more. Her second collection for Evans launched in 2010 with just over 20 individual items. Marianne Kirby, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', said the "collection struck a nerve with its iconic pieces" and that it was an "international success". In 2012, British couture label

Clements Ribeiro Clements Ribeiro is a London-based fashion house established in the early 1990s by husband and wife partnership Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro. It is known for its feminine designs, bold prints and luxurious knitwear. Named as one of fashio ...

introduced the Swan range for Evans. The range proved popular:

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

wore a dress at a gig in Canada and was reported to have bought the whole range.

References

External links

* * Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom 2021 mergers and acquisitions Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 {{UK-retail-company-stub