Sir Hardy Amies – Dressmaker to the Queen and Wartime Secret Agent
Article in summary
- Monday’s assembly celebrated Sir Hardy Amies, who attended Brentwood School from 1919 to 1927.
- During the Second World War, he led the Special Operations Executive’s Belgian section, organising sabotage missions and training secret agents.
- After the war, he opened a fashion house on Savile Row and served as Queen Elizabeth II’s official dressmaker from her accession until his retirement in 1989.
- In 1961, he staged the world’s first men’s catwalk show at London’s Savoy Hotel.
- He dressed England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team and the 1972 British Olympic squad, and designed costumes for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- Brentwood’s Hardy Amies Design Centre opened in 1999 in his honour and houses Art, DT, Food and Computing. He died in 2003, aged 94.
Dear all
Monday’s assembly featured one of our most famous alumni, who went on from Brentwood School to serve as a secret agent in World War Two, design clothes for the Queen, and spacesuits for Hollywood film stars.
Edwin Hardy Amies was born in London in 1909 and studied here between 1919 and 1927. His father wanted him to go to Cambridge University, but Amies had other plans. Initially, he wanted to be a journalist before entering the fashion industry. Inspired by his mother, who worked as a saleswoman in fashion, he adopted her maiden name, Hardy, and became a managing director in Mayfair by the age of 25.
His career took a dramatic turn with the outbreak of World War II. Fluent in French and German, Amies was recruited into military intelligence, joining the Special Operations Executive, where he was put in charge of the Belgian section, organising sabotage missions and training secret agents. He was recognised for his physical and mental toughness and saw close combat during the war, before being knighted by the Belgian government for his efforts.
After the war, Amies opened his own fashion house at 14 Savile Row in London and quickly became one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. He is perhaps best known as the official dressmaker for Queen Elizabeth II, a role he held from her accession to the throne all the way to his retirement in 1989.
He was also a pioneer in menswear. In 1961, he made history by staging the world’s first men’s catwalk show at London’s Savoy Hotel. He was also the first designer to walk the catwalk at the end, which is standard practice today. His designs also reached the worlds of sport and cinema; he dressed the 1966 England World Cup-winning team and the 1972 British Olympic squad. In 1968, film director Stanley Kubrick commissioned him to design the futuristic costumes for the iconic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
He famously wrote that, ‘A man should look as if he has bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care and then forgotten all about them’. Sir Hardy Amies died in 2003 at the age of 94, but his impact remains firmly stitched into modern culture. The Hardy Amies Design Centre, the home of our Art, DT, Food, and Computing Departments, was opened in 1999 in tribute to a man who is undoubtedly one of the most famous alumni of Brentwood School, who led a truly remarkable life.
Have a great weekend
Best wishes
Michael Bond
