Yardley London's 250th anniversary
A Long-Running Soap
From soap-maker to Charles 1st to receiving a Warrant from HRH Prince Edward in 1921, this centuries-old purveyor of fine quality fragrances proves it’s been a right royal success story.
Yardley aren’t sure of the precise month they turn a very good-looking 250. So in lieu of a precise date, they’re celebrating from now until the summer, with relaunched, all-new vegan packaging (97% naturally derived ingredients and cruelty free), bringing them bang-up to the 21st century.
But their history goes back even further. Their real journey began in 1620, during King Charles the first’s reign (before he lost his head), when a young man named Yardley name gave the monarch a large sum of money in return for the concession for providing all the soap for the City of London. The details of the exchange were sadly lost in 1666, when, for some reason or other, lots of paperwork suddenly went up in smoke. But one scrap of info survived: lavender was used to perfume the soap.
Fast-forward to 1770: in that year, the soap and perfumery business was established in London, and was later acquired by the wealthy and ambitious, William Yardley, whose ancestor may have kicked-started this to begin with. By 1851, it was exhibiting soaps at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. Interestingly, it would be on show again 100 years late, at the Festival of Britain. By 1879, Yardley had started to export 22 varieties of soap to the US, and by 1884, the newly formed Yardley & Co. Ltd had established itself as one of the world’s leading soap and perfumery houses.
In 1910, Yardley & Co. Ltd opened its first shop at No.8 New Bond Street, and in 1921, received a Royal Warrant from HRH Prince Edward (the first of six Royal Warrants to date). By the 1930s, the company was developing its own species of the best quality Lavender, grown across southern England – the very same Lavender that’s still used in its signature fragrance today. Yardley embraced the Swinging Sixties too: those iconic models, Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton, fronted Yardley's ground-breaking ad campaigns (Linda Evangelista was the face of Yardley in the 1990’s); while those aftershave and gold chain drenched 1970s saw The House of Yardley sponsor the B.R.M team of Formula Grand Prix, covering the cars in white with black, brown and gold ‘Y's reflecting the motto of Yardley's range of men's toiletries.
By the Noughties, Yardley had relaunched its fragrances for the first time in decades, expanding its portfolio with such wonders as the gemstone-inspired Jewel Collection; The Flowerful Collection, and, this year, to celebrate its 250th birthday, a re-launch of its Traditional Florals range (that’s English Rose, Lily of the Valley, April Violets – and of course English Lavender) and the introduction of four new Contemporary Floral Fragrances, developed with esteemed perfumers and currently available at Boots. Younger buyers might like to check out their Flowerazzi range, launched exclusively via Superdrug. For a 250-year-old, Yardley sure scrubs up well.