Spirella
Encyclopedia
Corset
A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
s. It was founded on a patent of dressbone, for bustles (Spirella 1 and Spirella 2), but started corset manufacture in 1904. At its height it had factories in the USA (New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Meadville, Pennsylvania
Meadville, Pennsylvania
Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is generally considered part of the Pittsburgh Tri-State and is within 40 miles of Erie, Pennsylvania. It was the first permanent settlement in northwest Pennsylvania...
), the UK (the Spirella Building
Spirella Building
The Spirella Building was created between 1912 and 1920 as the UK manufacturing base of the Spirella Corset Company. Its founder, William Wallace Kincaid, an American entrepreneur, came to Letchworth Garden City after hearing about the establishment of a new community - the world's first Garden...
in Letchworth, England
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...
) and Sweden (Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
). Their flagship location was Spirella House on Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus is the area of London at the busy intersection of Regent Street and Oxford Street, in the West End. It is served by Oxford Circus tube station, which is directly beneath the junction itself.- History :...
.
Its most popular corset
Corset
A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
was the Model 305. Spirella products were not sold in shops. Instead, female staff called corsetiers were sent to customer's homes.
After an ill-fated attempt to market garments of "Stub-tex", a form of Gore-Tex
Gore-Tex
Gore-Tex is a waterproof/breathable fabric, and a registered trademark of W. L. Gore and Associates. It was co-invented by Wilbert L. Gore, Rowena Taylor, and Gore's son, Robert W. Gore. Robert Gore was granted on April 27, 1976, for a porous form of polytetrafluoroethylene with a...
being used under licence from W. L. Gore & Associates, the company was sold in 1985 to the rival Spencers of Banbury and finally closed in July 1989.