A little ‘handbag’ history

Bags are one of the most common accessories for both men and women and have been for as long as society can remember. In Egyptian hieroglyphs we see pouches were worn around the waist. Fast forward to the 17th Century when girls were taught embroidery as a necessary skill in order to be considered for marriage. This saw the rise of beautiful and unique stitched artwork on small bags. Fashionable ladies started carrying a bag for every occasion in the 18th Century. These were called reticules. In these reticules she would carry rouge, face powder and possibly smelling salts. Nevertheless the term ‘handbag’ was not born until the 1900’s and it was not until after WWII that handbags became a fashion statement. The 50’s saw the rise of important design houses like Louis Vuitton and Hermes famous for their artisan craftsmanship. Now handbags are a fashion accessory that men and women cannot live without.

A brief history of women's watches

Believe it or not it was women who pioneered wearing watches on the wrist as far back as the 16th Century. Although this was restricted to aristocratic circles. It’s thought that Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) did so and that Queen Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) commissioned a diamond bracelet watch during her reign from Abraham-Louis Breguet’s Paris workshop.

A book of records from the Geneva watchmakers Jacquet-Droz and Leschot mentioned that in 1790 a watch that was attached to a (women's) bracelet. One of the first known wristwatches was made by Swiss watch manufacturer Patek Philippe. He made it for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary in 1868 although it was more a piece of costume jewellery than a “timepiece”.

A brief history of men's watches

Wristwatches remained a tough sell in the male market despite the early uptake by women. They had a feminine image and men preferred to stick to what they knew; larger, traditional pocket watches that were carried in their waistcoat. The armed forces were the exception. Wristwatches were a huge benefit to soldiers. Taking out a pocket watch, reading the time and putting it away again took valuable time. It was far quicker to look at a wristwatch. The first men’s wristwatches were mass-produced for the German military in the 1880’s but it was WW1 that secured wristwatches in military history.

This military trend, however, did not transition to civilian men for some time to come. It was only after the Second World War when a new spirit of luxury was back on the agenda. The watch industry went into overdrive designing men’s watches with cutting edge technology. The watch industry had finally captured the male audience.

Sporting goods - a brief history

Before there were Hollywood films, before there was television, and way before the World Wide Web, sport was one of the only means of affordable recreation and entertainment. Of all sports, football has retained its place as our most preferred mass spectator sport. How many of you knew, however, that the use of a football dates back to ancient China?

Football remains the most popular sport worldwide but the design of the ball has changed completely over the centuries. This applies to sporting goods in general. As the sporting goods industry develops in sophistication, so does the athlete’s performance. Not only does the athlete demand more, the consumer demands more.

Over the last 30 years we have seen remarkable growth and change in the sporting goods industry. At one time ‘sporting goods’ referred to equipment like tennis rackets and golf clubs but with the explosion in apparel and footwear sales, largely as a result of escalating marketing budgets and athlete endorsements, the industry has moved way beyond equipment manufacture.

The sports clothing and footwear market as we know it is dominated by a small number of superpowers – Adidas and Nike. These two are closely followed by Puma, New Balance and Under Armour gaining momentum. Brand popularity will rise and fall but Nike and Adidas will continue to monopolize the field, their logos being amongst the most recognisable corporate trademarks in the world.