The C&A UK Marketing Archive: ‘Where the mode of the moment costs less than elsewhere’

The C&A business was founded in 1841 in the Dutch city of Sneek by a pair of enterprising German brothers, Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer. The company thrived, being one of the first outlets to offer “ready-to-wear” fashions for women in various sizes to a broad public at reasonable prices and by 1910 had succeeded in opening a substantial number of stores in the Netherlands. Another store opened in Germany in 1911 and in England in 1922 as C&A Modes Ltd. 

When C&A UK finally closed its doors in 2000, HAT rescued its extensive marketing archive. This included complete guard books of women’s fashion advertising dating from September 1922 when the flagship store first opened in Oxford Street, London. Further branches in leading cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow were opened by 1930. Fashionable and affordable clothing for children was also available from the early days of the British operation. Menswear was introduced in 1957 with the jaunty slogan ‘What did I tell you! C&A are tops for men too!’.


L-R 1957 C&A, 1970 C&A

Most of the guard book advertisements include a fashion plate, retail prices, the brand names of fabrics used, titles of press and periodicals in which the ads appeared and their exact dates of placement. The collection of 1970s press ads, for example, shows how C&A reflected the fast changing popular fashions spanning the whole of the decade. They show women’s hemlines gradually lengthen from the mini skirt to the midi, then the maxi. The trouser suit made it respectable for women of all ages and sizes to wear trousers at work for the first time and reflected their equal status to men following the Equal Pay Act that came into force in 1970. The collection also includes the iconic ‘Man at C&A’ range and a variety of teenage fashions.

Clothes were made of the latest man-made, easy-care and wash-and-wear fibres (e.g. Crimplene, Terlenka) and always looked smart and uncreased.


1970 C&A

The C&A Marketing Archive at HAT is important not just for its huge cavalcade of fashion and fabrics reflecting changing lifestyles across the decade. Its pricing details also reveal how the latest cat-walk designs became affordable to the masses and C&A’s significant role in democratising fashion. The zany photography and copywriting style, introduced from the late 1960s, indicate new types of promotional messages aimed at a growing youth market.

HAT, based at Raveningham in Norfolk, is the largest archive of British advertising in the world. The collections range in date from 1800-today and feature many of the most iconic ads of the past. If you would like to visit the archive as a researcher or as part of a group tour please see our website www.hatads.org.uk or contact us directly: 

enquiries@hatads.org.uk / 01508 548623.

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