Our Timeline

– The idea for a global brand came to Ted whilst fishing.

– His first store opened in Glasgow, quickly followed by King Street, Manchester and Nottingham Exchange Arcade.

– The first London store started trading in Covent Garden and the company was bought outright from Goldberg and Sons.

– The Blue Baker collection was launched.

– Ted opened stores in Soho, London, Leeds Victoria Quarter and Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham. What’s more, Ted Baker became a privately owned company.

– Ted entrusted the brand to others and launched the wholesale business in the UK. A new store in Button Street, Liverpool, also opened.

– The Ted Baker Woman and Ted Baker Lite lines were launched.

– Wholesale trading kicked off in the USA at Magic 1996. Shortly afterwards Teddy Boy, or ‘small cuts dressed by Ted’, was launched. A womenswear store opened in Nottingham and Ted extended the stores in Covent Garden and Leeds.

– Ted Baker became a public company, Ted Baker PLC, trading as ‘No Ordinary Designer Label Limited’.

– What a corker. The very first standalone store on American soil opened in New York, and www.tedbaker.co.uk went live for the first time. Launches for Skinwear and Underwear made for an exciting year.

– The Endurance suit was created – a legend was born. Ted launched a new Woman fragrance, and the online store trades for the first time. New stores opened in The Manchester Triangle Centre, Bluewater, and even in Stockholm.

– Ted launched the Ted Baker Footwear and Teddy Girl collections. The team moved to their new home, The Ugly Brown Building, and opened the largest Ted Baker store to date in Birmingham, as well as new stores in Richmond, Canary Wharf and King’s Road, London.

– Sunglasses, Eyewear, and Footwear were launched. The first airport store opened at Gatwick South and Ted Baker joined Bloomingdale’s in New York thanks to Ted’s friends across the pond.

– This was a busy one for Ted. He opened stores in Heathrow airport, Paris, San Jose and Miami, as well as a new flagship store in Covent Garden. Two new fragrances, ‘M’ and ‘W’, were unveiled, and Ted Baker Home and Watches were launched for autumn.

– Ted’s luxury collection, Global, was launched along with its own limited edition fragrance of the same name. A three floor standalone store was opened in Manchester, as well as another store in King’s Road, London.

– Ted took his first steps into Australia and New Zealand, as well as opening new stores in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Regent St, London, Stansted airport and Guildford. The new Phantom collection was unveiled, together with the launch of a new Ted Baker fragrance, ‘Secondskin’, and the Westbourne Grove ‘Best in Show’ boutique.

– Ted launched ‘Secondscent’, a new women’s fragrance, as well as Archive, the classic shirt and tie collection, and the exclusive-to-Boots Bodywear collections. There were openings in Los Angeles, Dallas, and a new womenswear store in New York. Closer to home, a new store arrived in Nottingham.

– Ted became the official suit supplier to the Qantas Socceroos for the World Cup, and supported the home side with a limited edition ‘Pride of England’ Skinwear bottle. Another extraordinary new fragrance, ‘XO’, launched for men and women. Another store opened in Orange County, California and the womenswear concession in Selfridges London was given an update in a new location.

– Another action packed year. Eleven new locations were unveiled overseas, with stores in Dublin, Melbourne, and Miami. Here in the UK, a store opened in Gatwick’s North Terminal, plus an exquisite womenswear boutique in Langley Court, Covent Garden. By the end of the year, Ted had launched the Pashion menswear collection and Livewire Endurance suits, as well as the kids’ collection with Debenhams; Baker by Ted Baker. To top it all off, he created a jewellery line and two mobile phones – The Button and The Needle.

– Ted’s biggest project was opening Ted Baker & Friends, a one-stop shop in Cheapside, London. The store includes a barbers, a shoe shining service, and a virtual concierge. The 20th year also saw the opening of eight more standalone locations, including stores in Belfast, Cambridge, Heathrow T5 and two in Westfield London – there was even one in Athens, Greece. The icing on the cake was being awarded Superbrand status – proof that Ted Baker is considered one of the top 500 brands in the UK.

– The summer of 2009 saw the launch of Born – a casual menswear collection – which created quite a stir. Meanwhile, Ted’s third store in Taiwan opened in Taipei 101 – a skyscraper hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the world.

– Ted created his exclusive lingerie collection, B by Ted Baker, for Debenhams, and opened his first standalone Grooming Room. A brand-spanking new US website (as well as stores in NYC, Santa Monica, Scottsdale & Chicago) also opened for business and the world’s first Twitter-operated styling studio – ‘Take on Ted’ – hit the headlines.

– The year began with a Royal fanfare when the closest man to Ted, Ray Kelvin, was awarded a CBE for services to the fashion industry. Sweet Shoppe, a mouth-watering accessories pop-up, and Ted’s Beauty Spot made their debuts. Overseas, Ted said “je t’aime” to new and improved stores in Paris, and opened his doors for the first time in New Zealand and San Diego. As if that wasn’t enough, Ted also set up shop in the USA at Bloomingdale’s and El Corte Ingles in Spain/Portugal.

- New stores opened in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, New York and Toronto. Ted also opened new ‘home from homes’ in Germany, South Africa and South Korea and, closer to home, moved into an exclusive Knightsbridge address. Ted’s Grooming Room also expanded with the ‘appointment only’ Ottoman Lounge in Holborn, a new location in London’s Fitzrovia and the launch of a splendid range of products.

– Ted celebrated his 25th anniversary by sharing stories from his adventures ‘around the world in 25 years’ and spent the year opening more new stores and concessions in more countries than ever before. From Leeds to Liverpool, Toronto to Turkey, Adelaide and Abu Dhabi, the hits just kept on coming. Belgium and Beirut also got the Ted treatment, not to mention two new stores in Kuwait.

- Ted launched luggage, home fragrance and audio, as well as collections for those with a head for heights (T for Tall, with champion swimmer and great friend of Ted, Mark Foster), a need for speed (Wiggle), an eye for luxury (Global: Luxe), and a bustling journey to work (Commuter). In the same year, Ted got a makeover at Regent Street, and opened stores in Birmingham, Heathrow T2 and Abu Dhabi. He also opened a brand new Ted’s Grooming Room in Soho and was ‘reinvenTed’ in the city that was home to the first ever Ted Baker store: Glasgow.

- The year started on a high as Ted added another Grooming Room to his line-up, this time on Mortimer Street. He set his sights on Amsterdam, staging a takeover of De Bijenkorf, before hopping on a plane and launching a bonza new Australian site. Following a collaboration that saw Ted Baker dress tennis ace James Ward for the grand slam circuit, he spent the summer on home soil Having a Ball with his tennis-inspired pop-up in Westfield.

A collection of crockery with Portmeirion preceded a range of bikes with Quella, followed by tiles with British Ceramic Tile and rugs with Brink & Campman. Opening standalone stores in Hawaii, Malibu and Amsterdam, as well as launching three pop-ups, Ted ensured the successes kept on coming.

– Ted launched the fully shoppable AW16 campaign Mission Impeccable, boasting Guy Ritchie as Executive Producer. Continuing the technical wizardry, he partnered with Google on some spy-themed window displays, utilising a world- first application of Voice Search to run a prize draw. Colour by Numbers, a contemporary new line for women, made its much-lauded debut. As always, the fresh brick and mortar came thick and fast with over 20 standalone stores globally, not to mention three new Grooming Rooms in London Town.

- Ted teed up a technical new golf collection. SS17’s campaign Keeping Up with the Bakers, involving through-the-keyhole 360 VR experience, gossip-fuelled social campaign and nosey neighbour windows, became the talk of the town. Ted finally caught the proverbial bouquet with his Tie the Knot Bridal collection, kicked back with luxury loungewear from Ted Says Relax, and cottoned on to Cottoned On, Ted’s architecture-inspired womenswear capsule. Menswear got its own Instagram channel, while new smells came courtesy of Tonics, a trio of men’s aftershave. New stores opened in St. Pancras, Oxford and Bicester, as well as Miami, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris and Kuala Lumpur overseas.

– Ted began by making thing shipshape, mooring up his very own barge outside Tedquarters. To celebrate his 30 year anniversary, he released a selection of logo sweatshirts from his archive, and brought Lingerie and Kidswear to tedbaker.com for the first time. ‘The Shirtfather’, Ted’s make-your-own shirt project launched, alongside a sparkly Swarovski collection and the premium women’s fragrance, Est. ’88, inspired by a new generation of empowered women.

The celebratory mood continued in Ted’s stores as ever, with plenty of new spots popping up both in Britain and abroad. Customers also said Bonjour and Guten Tag to French and German versions of tedbaker.com.

A grand extravaganza closed the year, with Ted’s Christmas Party campaign showcasing festive celebration skills. As if that wasn’t enough, Ted rounded off his 30th year with a momentous undertaking: his first advertising campaign. Running across everything from billboards to buses to magazines, it featured plenty of his signature humour and one of his iconic womenswear pieces.