It’s peacocks at dawn between two of London’s top gentlemen’s outfitters. Royal-warranted shirtmaker Thresher & Glenny, founded in 1683, was “shocked” to see that rival Turnbull & Asser is prominently using a flamboyantly feathered bird in its new advertising campaign.
Thresher & Glenny, which cuts its cloth among the Inns of Court on Middle Temple Lane, is one of the oldest tailors in the city and has been using the peacock logo since the late-17th century. “It dates back to when many people were illiterate,” a spokesman explained to The Londoner. “We were known for trading ‘at the sign of the Peacock’” — nearly 200 years before comparative upstart Turnbull & Asser first started sewing shirts.
Over to the upstarts, founded a mere 129 years ago in 1885. “We’re all about using colour among the dull grey of most men’s suits,” says a Turnbull & Asser spokesman. “That’s why we used the ‘peacock among the pigeons’ idea for this season’s campaign. We mean no disrespect to any other business.”
Both tailors have an impressive pedigree of past clients. Turnbull & Asser, which has showrooms in the US as well as Mayfair and the City, can count Sir Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Charlie Chaplin and Picasso among its well-shirted gentlemen.
Thresher & Glenny’s favourite old boy is Lord Nelson, who used to purchase his stockings there. “On one occasion,” its spokesman tells me, “Nelson called upon Mr Thresher, who hastened to express regret for the loss of the arm. Nelson cut him short: ‘Tut tut, man. Damn lucky for you it wasn’t my leg’.”
