Described as the patron saint of British fashion by Sir Philip Green, Alfred Radley, who has died aged 94, nurtured and developed some of the most famous names in British design, from Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell to Terence Nolder and Betty Jackson. Born in the East End, the youngest of seven children, his father died when he was 18 months old, and he was brought up partly in the Norwood orphanage.
During the Second World War, Radley volunteered for the Merchant Navy and served in all theatres of war from the Atlantic convoys to the Pacific. Two of his ships were hit by enemy fire. He saw action on the North Atlantic convoys and D Day, and he was on the first Allied ship to dock in France.
Serving in the Far East. he was on one of the first ships to enter Japan after the dropping of the atom bombs, when he visited Hiroshima. There he witnessed Japanese Emperor Hirohito surrender on the USS Missouri.
At the end of the war, he served on RMS Monoway which brought returning Russian prisoners to Odessa and Jewish survivors from the Nazi death camps to Marseilles. It was on one trip that he met and befriended Otto Frank, the father of Anne, on his return from Auschwitz.
After the war he founded Radley, which became one of the most influential fashion houses of London’s Swinging Sixties, specialising in party dresses. By 1965 the house had its own fabric mills as well as factories producing garments, gloves and handbags for many high street stores ranging from Harrods to Marks & Spencer.
In 1968 Radley’s reputation was enhanced with his acquisition of a small boutique in the King’s Road called Quorum. It was destined to boast such designers as Ossie Clark, Alice Pollock, and Celia Birtwell. While Ossie Clark flourished under the Quorum label, Radley was also highly influential in promoting the careers of many other designers, including Betty Jackson, Sheilagh Brown, Sheridan Barnett, Wendy Dagworthy, Rosemary Bradford and Terence Nolder (who, in 1980 won the British Eveningwear Designer Award, and The British Designer of the Year Award in 1981).
Working with many well-known designers, Radley is credited with the idea of bringing high-end couture to the high street at affordable prices – hence the patron saint soubriquet .
Radley remained in contact with Ossie Clark throughout the rest of his life, and even after retiring in the late 1980s, he retained a passionate interest in fashion and worked tirelessly to keep Ossie Clark’s work and memory alive.
In 2002-3 he contacted the Victoria and Albert Museum and it was at his instigation that they launched a major exhibition in celebration of Ossie Clark’s work. Radley himself provided many of the garments on display from his personal collection and the centrepiece was his daughter Diane’s wedding dress. The show ran for ten months in 2003.
He is survived by his daughters Diane Boucher and Karen Radley and his son Dr Howard Radley
KAREN RADLEY
Alfred Radley: born June 28, 1924.
Died February 14, 2019
