Thomas Pink Limited is a British shirt-maker. It was established in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1984 by three Irish brothers – James, Peter and John Mullen. From 1999 it was part of the

Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French Holding company, holding multinational corporation and conglomerate (company), conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1 ...

group. In 2018 it lost £23.5 million. The company changed its name to Pink Shirtmaker in November 2018, and it was put up for sale in December 2020. It closed in January 2021, but was acquired in February and had resumed trading by November.

History

The company was started in 1984 by three Irish brothers – James, Peter and John Mullen. It was named after Thomas Pink, an eighteenth-century

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

, London. In 1999, it was sold to

, which paid about €48 million for 70% of the company. At the time, the company had 20 shops, including 17 in the UK, one in Dublin and two in the United States. LMVH bought the remaining 30% of the company in 2003. In 2012, Thomas Pink launched legal proceedings in the UK against

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ...

, which was marketing lingerie under the label "Pink"; Thomas Pink claimed Victoria's Secret was infringing on its trademarks, confusing customers and tarnishing its image pursuant to the

Trade Marks Act 1994 The Trade Marks Act 1994 is the law governing trade marks within the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. It implements EU Directive No. 89/104/EEC (The Trade Marks Directive) which forms the framework for the trade mark laws of all EU member stat ...

.Elizabeth Paton (8 June 2017)
Thomas Pink Appoints John Ray as Creative Director
''The New York Times''. Accessed July 2017. Although Victoria's Secret attempted to raise a number of defences including revocation for non-use, and attacking the validity of the marks for descriptiveness and lack of distinctiveness, in July 2014 in the

High Court of England and Wales The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

Judge Colin Birss ruled in Thomas Pink's favour. Victoria's Secret, which is owned by L Brands, is making efforts to protect its trademarks in the United States, where the British trademark ruling did not have any effect. In 2018, the company made an operating loss of £23.5 million. In November 2018, it changed its name to Pink Shirtmaker. It closed its

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. His ...

shop in August 2020, and in December of that year closed down its other shops, its website and its social media activity. Its dissolution was partially attributed to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

.Thomas Pink, the Legendary London Shirtmaker, Has Closed: The one-time status symbol is no more.
'' Robb Report'', Martin Lerma, January 2021 In February 2021, Nick Preston, a former

JD Sports JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as JD Sports or JD, is a British sports- fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Pentla ...

executive, made arrangements to acquire the brand and its intellectual property from LVMH, though not its retail storefronts; the brand resumed trading in November of that year.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{Cite news, title=British shirtmaker Thomas Pink's operating losses widened by 20% to £23.5m in the year to 31 December 2018., url=https://www.drapersonline.com/news/losses-widen-at-thomas-pink, last=Fish, first=Isabella, date=14 October 2019, website=Drapers, access-date=15 May 2020 {{Cite news, title=Thomas Pink rebrands to Pink Shirtmaker, url=https://www.drapersonline.com/news/thomas-pink-rebrands-to-pink-shirtmaker, last=Fish, first=Isabella, date=14 October 2019, website=Drapers, access-date=17 April 2019 {{cite news, last1=Sullivan, first1=Nick, title=An Iconic British Shirtmaker Is Being Reborn—Just in Time for a Style Rebellion: Thomas Pink is no more. Introducing Pink Shirtmaker London., url=https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a25106345/pink-shirtmaker-london-launch/, work=Esquire, date=2018-11-15, access-date=2022-04-10 {{cite news, author=Kyle Stock , title=In War for the Word 'Pink,' a Menswear Retailer Defeats Victoria's Secret , url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-01/thomas-pink-wins-legal-dispute-against-victorias-secret-pink-line , work=Bloomsberg Businessweek , date=1 August 2014 , access-date=13 October 2014 Thomas Pink full-year losses reach £23m
Sahar Nazir, 15 October 2019 {{cite news, title=Thinking of Pink, publisher=Sunday Business Post, date=2 December 2007 1984 in London British companies established in 1984 Clothing brands of the United Kingdom Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom LVMH brands Shirts