| AdminHistory | Mary Harris Gowns Ltd was founded in 1939 by Mary Harris (born Miriam Levine). The first factory was based in Team Valley, Gateshead, and by the 1950s the company ran two further factories, one in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne and the third in South Shields. By the early 1960s the business was established as one of the major manufacturers to Marks and Spencer as well as other leading chain store and mail order businesses, and in 1969 the Group launched its own fashion label 'Mary Harris'. By the 1960s the Group employed 500 people, producing between 12,000 - 15,000 garments per week. In the 1970s Mary Harris Ltd became a subsidiary of Vantona Group Ltd, and in 1982 Vantona Group Ltd closed all three Mary Harris Ltd factories.
The Lavine family emigrated to Britain from Bayalistock (then part of Russian-annexed Poland) in 1911, when Mary was 4 years old. By the age of ten she was helping her older sisters with dressmaking from their home, and following the death of her father she left school to help develop the dressmaking business. In 1932 she opened a family dressmaking business, 'M.Lavine and Co' with various members of her family joining her as business partners. However in 1939 Mary and her husband decided to open their own business, and on the 11th September 1939 they took possession of a 10,000sq ft factory on the new Team Valley Trading Estate, called Mary Harris Gowns.
During her career Mary was greatly respected as both a skilled business woman and a leading figure in fashion and fabric design. She was invited to sit on many influential committees concerned with the development of industrial working conditions, and became a founding member of the Design Council for Great Britain. She was also instrumental in helping to develop Northumbria University's School of Fashion, Design and Marketing. |