hardy minnis
Best known for the Finest Worsted Suitings and Classic Country Tweeds, Hardy Minnis produces iconic British cloths with timeless appeal and is renowned worldwide for collections such as Alsport, Fresco and QZ.
Combining innovation in our designs, and tradition in our outlook, the Hardy Minnis brand is the epitome of British elegance with global appeal.
Then Hardy Minnis was established in the late 1960’s by the merger of two famous Woollen Merchants, John G Hardy and J&J Minnis. The two companies were well known in their own right and had, over the years, become two of the most respected cloth merchants in the trade.
Mr. John G Hardy founded his company in the 1890’s. An intrepid explorer and something of an eccentric, he scoured small mills around the UK for Tweeds and Country cloths. Legend has it he was one of the first cloth merchants to visit the Scottish Highlands and Hebrides, and to introduce Shetland and Harris Tweeds to the tailors of the world. He was allegedly so protective of his sources that on his return trips to London, he’d smuggle the new found fabric swatches under his top hat!
As his reputation grew, the popularity of signature cloths such as Alsport caught the attention of the Royal Family and in 1929 the Duke of York who would later become King George VI, used a John G. Hardy cloth for the Regimental Tweed of the Brigade of Guards. When King Edward VIII was the Prince of Wales, he acquired from John G. Hardy the black & white district check that would later bear his name. Since the 1930’s the company has been privileged to hold Official Warrants for the supply of cloth to the Royal Household.
J&J Minnis had an even earlier pedigree having been established in 1874 in London’s West End. Brothers James and John Minnis built up a company which is acknowledged as one of the oldest and most respected names in the cloth merchanting business world-wide.
Savile Row was well established as the world’s most prestigious street for gentlemen’s clothing when J&J Minnis took up residence at Number 16, in 1902. The company soon developed a reputation for its luxury fabrics and fine designs and became the primary cloth resource for its esteemed neighbours along ‘The Row’. J&J Minnis is also widely credited with being the first British cloth merchant to introduce Savile Row quality fabrics into the Japanese market.
