0:00:03 > 0:00:07Laura Ashley was one of Wales' great creative talents.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10I love working the factory.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14I think a place where things are being made is very exciting.
0:00:14 > 0:00:22Yet she became famous for creating an image of Englishness that women worldwide wanted to buy.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Laura was one of the greats of taste-makers, really.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28She influenced a whole generation of people.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32The soft, dreamy clothes that Laura created
0:00:32 > 0:00:36concealed the determination of the woman behind them.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40She was an unusual person, very quiet.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Best described as an iron fist in a velvet glove.
0:00:59 > 0:01:05Laura Ashley was born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1925.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Being very Welsh,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10my mother dashed home always about a month before her children were due
0:01:10 > 0:01:12to make sure they were born in Wales.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Laura's parents lived in London, but when she was eight months' pregnant,
0:01:16 > 0:01:22Laura's mother made the pilgrimage back to her childhood home in Dowlais.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Laura was born on 7th September at 31 Station Terrace.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31It's the terrace right at the very top.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35It's on the south side of the Brecon Beacons, what they call Dowlais Top,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39and very exposed and bitterly cold.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44Throughout her childhood, Laura, her sister and two brothers,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47would spend summer and Easter holidays in Dowlais.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51These visits had a great influence on Laura.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55My grandmother had about eight sisters and they all were in service in London,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59in great houses where the standards were incredible.
0:01:59 > 0:02:05And of course, they all went back to marry Welshmen, and they took these Victorian standards back with them.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09I just adored helping with everything.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14Every morning the step had to be whitened, all the brass had to be polished.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18And of course, the doors were all left open so that anybody could walk straight in.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21The front door was always left open.
0:02:25 > 0:02:31Each Sunday, Laura attended her grandmother's Baptist chapel, Hebron.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36In one's wardrobe there was the set of Sunday clothes,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41so you dressed quite differently for Sunday, of course, as it were, as everybody knows.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45And then it was chapel three times a day.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50And Sunday school in the afternoon was for everybody, not just children.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55They were very strict, but very happy.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05Laura's Welsh roots would remain important to her throughout her life.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11Back in England, she enjoyed a happy childhood growing up in Beddington Park, Surrey.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18We had a wonderful garden. There were 12 apple trees,
0:03:18 > 0:03:25and in the summer there was so many windfalls that every single day
0:03:25 > 0:03:29my mother would boil stewed apples and custard,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and that's what we had, and it was lovely.
0:03:36 > 0:03:43But this idyll was interrupted in 1939, when Laura was just 13.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46My father came home that evening.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51Our whole lives changed so much we were never a family again.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52It's how it worked out.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55He said, "You must take the children to Wales tomorrow,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57"there's going to be a war declared."
0:04:00 > 0:04:02My mother hustled us all back to Wales.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05We had to spend the first night, I remember, in Cardiff,
0:04:05 > 0:04:10because there was a terrific rush to Wales that particular night, and the trains were packed.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15She was so frightened the bombs were going to fall that night we stopped off in Cardiff with friends,
0:04:15 > 0:04:22Welsh friends, and they hustled four of us children into a cupboard, and we slept the night there.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25The next day they travelled up to their grandmother's house,
0:04:25 > 0:04:32but because Dowlais was inundated with evacuees, there was no room for Laura in any of the local schools.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37At the age of 13, her school days were suddenly over.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42They decided that I'd better take a secretarial course,
0:04:42 > 0:04:48so I had to go across the mountain to Aberdare to the school and take a secretarial course.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52And then I went to London to join my father and uncle,
0:04:52 > 0:04:58who were both civil servants, and my first job was with the Ministry of Health
0:04:58 > 0:05:02because they thought it was safe for us, I was only 17, to travel with them.
0:05:02 > 0:05:08In 1943, Laura, now aged 17, met Bernard Ashley.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13He was a bit wild, because we met at a rugby club dance,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17and he had come with a rugby ball because he thought it might be rather boring,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22and it might liven up the proceedings if he actually started a game on the dance floor,
0:05:22 > 0:05:28which he promptly did, and I had to crouch behind the piano cos I'm of a rather nervous disposition,
0:05:28 > 0:05:35and I don't know how he ever noticed me, but we immediately became absolutely inseparable.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38She must have fancied him, I think.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Well, you couldn't help it, he was very forceful, put himself forward,
0:05:43 > 0:05:50and I think she'd never met anybody, a man, forceful like that.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52He was very overpowering.
0:05:52 > 0:05:59And then he went into the army, and then he was immediately sent to India with the Gurkhas,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01so we just wrote to each other for the next three years.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03I didn't see him for three years.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08While Bernard went off to India, Laura was doing her bit too.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12She volunteered for the Women's Royal Naval Service.
0:06:12 > 0:06:18She was posted to HMS Dryad, where the D-day landings were being planned.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23I got to this posting near Portsmouth and they locked the door behind me and said,
0:06:23 > 0:06:29"Right, you're locked up here now cos there's going to be an invasion, and you can't get out again."
0:06:31 > 0:06:37Well, she went into France after D-day and she was a teleprinter operator...
0:06:39 > 0:06:41..and I think that really changed her life.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47She was so timid as a child, and you'd never think she was very brave,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49but she obviously was very brave.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54And the first place she stayed in was this wonderful French chateau,
0:06:54 > 0:06:59and in her bedroom was this great big photo of this hideous German officer
0:06:59 > 0:07:04who must have left in a hurry and left this horrible photo of himself.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Bernard and Laura were married in 1949.
0:07:13 > 0:07:20They moved into a flat in Pimlico, and in 1953 Laura gave birth to a daughter, Jane.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Bernard was by now working for a small investment firm in the city,
0:07:25 > 0:07:30and Laura found a job as a secretary in the handicrafts department
0:07:30 > 0:07:33of the National Federation of Women's Institutes.
0:07:34 > 0:07:41Bernard had vague dreams of starting a business, but it was Laura who came up with the idea for it.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Having been inspired at women's institutes,
0:07:44 > 0:07:49they'd had a marvellous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum of patchworks,
0:07:49 > 0:07:54and I really thought I really must do some patchwork, it's so lovely.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04Laura's holidays in Dowlais as a girl had given her a glimpse of the traditional craft of quilt-making.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08My great-grandmother had this quilting frame,
0:08:08 > 0:08:14and she used to make patchwork quilts for all and sundry as well as having about eight children.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20And in the parlour was still the quilting frame, and all my great aunts would gather round and quilt.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24It was rather like Mrs Gaskell's Cranford, actually.
0:08:26 > 0:08:33But by 1953, the traditional patterned material that Laura's great-grandmother had used
0:08:33 > 0:08:35was difficult to come by.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38I couldn't find the little prints I wanted,
0:08:38 > 0:08:44- so we decided that we'd try printing them on the kitchen table. - We, you and Bernard?
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Yes. I got a book from the library and I said,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48"Oh, you have to make a silk screen to do this,"
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and he said, "You'll never do that, I'll have to do that for you."
0:08:51 > 0:08:54So he made a silk screen and we started printing.
0:08:54 > 0:09:01And if he got stuck he went to the Royal College of Art and asked them how to do the next thing.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06They were very nice. They just didn't mind him barging in and asking them what to do.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10And then he said, "You know, I think we can sell these things."
0:09:10 > 0:09:15So we found whatever we printed on the kitchen table, we could sell.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18And then, of course, my daughter was born,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21and he came to St Thomas' Hospital to see me,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24and he said, "Oh, I've given my notice in the city
0:09:24 > 0:09:29"because I can't manage all this printing with you in this hospital and go to the city."
0:09:33 > 0:09:38The inspiration for Laura and Bernard's first success came from abroad.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43They went on holiday to Italy in 1953,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46and Bernard and Laura saw all the girls on the back of the Vespas.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49They were running round with these little neck scarves,
0:09:49 > 0:09:54so they bought some, brought them home and copied them, and that's basically how it started.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59The business soon outgrew the Ashleys' three-room flat.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04Now, with two young children and a third on the way, they moved out to rural Surrey.
0:10:04 > 0:10:12The distinctive vintage print tea towels they produced in an old coach house sealed the Ashley brand.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Bernard said, "Oh, well, I'm not putting my name on those silly things,
0:10:16 > 0:10:22"you'll have to put your name on those," cos up to then it had been Bernard Ashley Fabrics.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27So the trouble was then we got a huge, huge order from San Francisco,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30and, I mean, it was thousands.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32- For tea towels?- For tea towels.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35And we didn't have time to print any furnishing fabrics,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39and so everything's going out with Laura Ashley on it.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43- That's how it happened. - Laura Ashley was born.- Yes.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52By 1959, the company was branching out,
0:10:52 > 0:10:59producing aprons, smocks, and their very first floral print.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03But in the south of England, Laura and Bernard's ambitions to expand their wholesale business
0:11:03 > 0:11:10were continually frustrated by uncooperative bank managers and local planners.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12It was time for a move.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17So I said to Bernard, "Well, there's plenty of room in Wales."
0:11:17 > 0:11:21So he got the map out and he said, "Well, look, they've just opened the M1,"
0:11:21 > 0:11:29so we shot up the M1 and we found that, well, he's quite a fast driver, but we found it was viable.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36Bernard and Laura's road trip took them to the market town of Machynlleth.
0:11:36 > 0:11:42They used the last of their savings to buy a house and shop on the high street.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Wales was now their home.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50One of their first employees in Machynlleth was Rosina Corfield.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53I started with Laura Ashley in 1963,
0:11:53 > 0:11:58and my sister Morveth, both of us started then.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00I think we were the first two machinists there.
0:12:00 > 0:12:08The setup was simple and unpretentious, the way Bernard Ashley liked it.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12We were cutting out in the kitchen, and then I used to sew upstairs.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16Orange boxes used to come, we used to sit on those.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18He didn't believe in furniture.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22He would have holes in his trousers, holes in his jumper,
0:12:22 > 0:12:27you know, he wasn't bothered about being smart or nothing like that.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33BA and LA, as they were always known to their employees,
0:12:33 > 0:12:38had a strong working relationship which depended on their contrasting personalities.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43They worked together, they shared things together, they sat down and discussed things together.
0:12:43 > 0:12:51She was calm and he was a bit off, you know, he'd lose it, but that was him.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53He was kind.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55He'd do anything for you.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57My father was the one that handed out the orders.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02It was, you know, left, right, left, right, and you weren't qualified
0:13:02 > 0:13:05to give an order until you could take one.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08My mother went along with this nonsense, but, you know,
0:13:08 > 0:13:13she was the brains behind the operation, so she was actually, you know,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15sort of getting my father to hand out the orders.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17But it was her idea in the first place.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Laura Ashley, you know, the brand, the company,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22would never have been without the two of them.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27That's absolutely true. You know, it needed the pair of them.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31You know, Bernard had the sort of business drive in a way,
0:13:31 > 0:13:36and Laura, I suppose, had the taste, and it was a wonderful combination.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43The Ashleys were looking for a factory in Wales,
0:13:43 > 0:13:48and they found the perfect location in the village of Carno, 15 miles from Machynlleth.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54It was a one-horse town,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58and my parents employed the horse and its owner.
0:13:59 > 0:14:06Local jobs were scarce in Carno, and young people were leaving the area in droves.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10We were very lucky because we happened on this village in mid-Wales
0:14:10 > 0:14:13which is an extraordinary village, I think.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16It's a very happy one with a very strong character,
0:14:16 > 0:14:21and they have inspired us as much as we have, we hope, helped them.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26They're always telling us we've helped so much, but really I think they've helped us more.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30They were very confused by this, amused, I should say,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33by this sort of Basil Fawlty type
0:14:33 > 0:14:39and his rather austere-looking wife and trendy-looking kids.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43But they soon got used to us.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45The Ashleys breathed life into the village.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50They brought work with them, and everybody sort of mucked in
0:14:50 > 0:14:53and created what was a very exciting atmosphere.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01The Ashleys' first premises in the village was a disused social club.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04But it wasn't long before they needed more space.
0:15:04 > 0:15:10Bernard and Laura took over the old railway station and immediately started building a factory there,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13borrowing tractors from local farmers.
0:15:14 > 0:15:21They hired sheep shearers as pattern cutters and farm wives as sewing machinists.
0:15:21 > 0:15:28The Ashleys fitted in well in a farming community that valued hard work and cooperation.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33I think people waste an awful lot of time socialising. I'm not very fond of that.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38I think that, you know, if you're going to employ people, for instance,
0:15:38 > 0:15:45you haven't got time to socialise because you have to be involved with the people you're with.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49They were one of us, you know, they were approachable.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51They weren't sort of bosses on high.
0:15:51 > 0:15:57They were part of the team, basically, so we were all on the same level, and it just worked.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Everybody wanted to do their best for the company.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04The factory in Carno was a happy workplace.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06There were no night shifts at Laura Ashley.
0:16:06 > 0:16:12Employees worked a four-and-a-half-day week, clocking off at lunchtime on Fridays.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17Just working Friday morning so you got a long weekend to do your shopping
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and get ready for Monday then, that was lovely.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22A four-day week, that was lovely.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25If they were pregnant, they could take as much time off as they like.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29If people preferred working from home for a time then they could become an outworker.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33It was very much a case of everyone working together.
0:16:34 > 0:16:41When I had a child, they brought the sewing machine for me to work at home so I could do it when I got time.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46And they used to pick it up and I used to tell them when it's finished, and they would come and collect it.
0:16:46 > 0:16:52Mothers with school-age children were not allowed to work beyond 3.30pm.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54This applied to Laura herself.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58I would collect them from school and go home with them and have tea with them.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02And so I was only working when they were elsewhere.
0:17:02 > 0:17:09I think my duties were made clear to me as a child. Once I had a child,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13my first duty from then on was to that child.
0:17:16 > 0:17:23The Ashleys were by now living in a remote farmhouse 1,500 feet above sea level.
0:17:23 > 0:17:29In this isolated setting, Laura enjoyed some of the happiest years of her life.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33The home was always the heart of the business.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37It was always the proper headquarters of the business.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40All the business decisions were taken across the kitchen table.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- Some cheese.- Ah, cheese!- Yes.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48'Anyone who wasn't happy at work, they were brought up into the kitchen'
0:17:48 > 0:17:53and my mother would cook them a meal and then they'd tell her what the problem was.
0:17:53 > 0:17:59And more often than not, the problem would evaporate halfway through the cooking process, because,
0:17:59 > 0:18:06you know, they realised that they were being nurtured and nourished in every possible way.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10There was a care for the workers, you know,
0:18:10 > 0:18:15that sort of wealth and privilege also brings with it responsibilities,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19you know, and basically, you know, you're here to do good.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25She once described herself as a socialist who voted Tory, and that's quite a good description of her.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Laura's motherly concern for her workers
0:18:32 > 0:18:39extended as far as the factory canteen, where one food was definitely off the menu.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41She didn't like chips at all, you know.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44She didn't like the smell, she didn't like anything about them.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47She just thought they were unhealthy, whereas, you know,
0:18:47 > 0:18:53boiled new potatoes with a little bit of butter and some parsley, you know, much more healthy option.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Although it has to be said, a lot of people in the factory really preferred chips,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58and I don't blame them.
0:19:01 > 0:19:08By 1968, the factory was turning out garments and fabrics for over 100 retailers.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10The whole front's coming off, you know.
0:19:10 > 0:19:16But the big breakthrough came when Laura decided they should open a shop of their own in London.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22We thought, "Well, if we have a tiny little shop to start with," you know,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24it'd be fun, anyway. That was very exciting.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29That's one of the most exciting times of our life, you know, that we were actually retailing.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33For the first six months we didn't understand anything about retailing,
0:19:33 > 0:19:38and that shop, which we had in South Kensington by the underground station, just didn't go at all.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41And then we advertise on the underground,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45just 100 posters, and the result was absolutely amazing.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48We advertise a dress for six guineas,
0:19:48 > 0:19:53and within weeks the shop was so packed that we just had to shut the doors.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57They could make the stuff themselves, design it themselves,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01make it themselves, distribute it themselves and sell it themselves.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04No middle-men and they can charge as much profit as they liked.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07And as soon as they discovered that, as soon as they did that,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10the whole business went like a firework straight up in the air.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15Laura Ashley was suddenly the name on everyone's lips.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19There is a real Laura Ashley, a lady from Merthyr Tydfil
0:20:19 > 0:20:22who seems slightly surprised that her simple, pleasant designs
0:20:22 > 0:20:25should have caught the imagination of the world.
0:20:25 > 0:20:31Many of the designs are taken from old Welsh patchwork quilts like this one, dated about 1880.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35The design of this patch is gradually transformed into sketches like this one,
0:20:35 > 0:20:40and then finally into a modern skirt like this one here.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47She used to like going around old shops picking up bits and pieces,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50bookends or bits of crockery, which we could alter,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53and there was that excitement of what we could do with it,
0:20:53 > 0:20:59how we could adapt it, bring up to date, basically, freshen them up, simplify them.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02This little tiny print, which you'd hardly notice,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04it's so small, but she's seen that,
0:21:04 > 0:21:11and then she wanted that developed into this print which we did as a certain negative and a positive.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16Now this is a new one that nobody's ever seen, it's absolutely new.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21And I think that's rather sweet.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26'She didn't want anything perfect, so we had to put deliberate mistakes into the fabric,'
0:21:26 > 0:21:30because that was the Ashley look at the time.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34I mean, today, everything is so perfect and boring, basically,
0:21:34 > 0:21:39but you could buy an Ashley dress with the imperfection in the printing.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48Laura was selling an image of natural, rustic charm.
0:21:48 > 0:21:55Her old-fashioned prints and long, flowing dresses harked back to an imagined Victorian past.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00What I call the eyelash to toenail spriggy cotton dress,
0:22:00 > 0:22:06probably with a straw hat, and, you know, eating a Flake in a field of flowers,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09that is the iconic Laura Ashley look.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15It was a world away from the miniskirts
0:22:15 > 0:22:21and man-made fabrics that were all the rage at the time, thanks to another Welsh designer, Mary Quant.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29I always think that I'm the country one and she's the town one.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32She's marvellously urban,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35whereas I've never lived in the city,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39or if I've had to live in a city I've still got my roots in the country,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43so it's a completely different scene altogether.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48Her real talent was being able to spot a trend and a fashion
0:22:48 > 0:22:51before it had even become a trend or a fashion, and that was her skill.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53She wasn't actually a designer as such.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57I would describe her as a taste-maker.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02Anything with a nostalgia about it goes. It's always a winner.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06I think people want to find a security at home.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Most of our categories of garments are to be worn at home.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15They're not particulars for making a splash in a dramatic place,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17so they're simple garments to wear at home.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20To her the most important thing was your home and your family.
0:23:20 > 0:23:26And it didn't matter what your home was, whether it was a tent, a tin shed or huge castle.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28It didn't matter who your family were.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33It's just the fact that you're all together under one roof having a meal together.
0:23:33 > 0:23:34That's all that counts.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38And so the products she designed
0:23:38 > 0:23:42were products that help people to live that lifestyle and reinforce that.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50Laura's nostalgic style was equally popular at home and abroad.
0:23:50 > 0:23:56By 1973, Laura Ashley had shops in Holland, Switzerland and France.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01Australia, New Zealand and America followed soon after.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07There was a shop in Boise, Idaho in America where a customer came in,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09looked at one of the products and said,
0:24:09 > 0:24:15"Oh, gee, does Mrs Ashley really print this on her kitchen table?" And she really believed that.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard have built up from a kitchen workshop
0:24:20 > 0:24:26in a London flat, a manufacturing and retail empire with three factories
0:24:26 > 0:24:32in this country, two in Holland, and some 40 shops selling their products in nine countries.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34And how they sell.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Garments are selling here at almost one a minute.
0:24:37 > 0:24:45If you include all the company's British and European shops, the rate is a garment sold every 15 seconds.
0:24:45 > 0:24:51The Ashley styles have an international appeal for both day and casual evening wear.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54MUSIC: "MONEY" By Pink Floyd
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Decades of hard work had finally paid off for Laura and Bernard.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02They now lived in a Victorian mansion near Rhayader.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06They opened new factories in Wales and the Netherlands.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10In order to manage their multinational empire, they travelled by jet.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14In 1978, they left Britain for tax reasons.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19They bought a chateaux in France and a lavish townhouse in Brussels.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24# Money, get away... #
0:25:25 > 0:25:31But even as an exile, Laura retained creative control of the company that bore her name.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38As the company grew, then they were pulled away from Carno,
0:25:38 > 0:25:45which made it more difficult for Mrs Ashley, so she just kept sending things by post or whatever,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49so new things would arrive every day, then we'd have to send them straight back.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55Though Laura now lived abroad, her company remained committed to Wales.
0:25:55 > 0:26:01In 1985, she opened Laura Ashley's eighth Welsh factory in Caernarfon.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05I have great pleasure in declaring this factory open,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09and I truly believe it'll be a very happy place.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12APPLAUSE
0:26:12 > 0:26:17We've got a fantastic team, and it just bubbles the whole time,
0:26:17 > 0:26:23and the bubbles go right round the world, absolutely. It's so exciting.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Laura Ashley, the company best known for its floral prints and country-style fashions,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33has announced that it will go public next spring.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Going public could raise £50 million.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40That'll be used to build more factories and shops all over the world.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43But they'll still be making a product designed to look
0:26:43 > 0:26:47as though it was run up in the back room of a small country cottage.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54With the company about to be floated on the stock market,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Laura returned to Britain to celebrate her 60th birthday.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Along the way she stopped off in Carno.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07She was back in Carno for this design meeting
0:27:07 > 0:27:11that we were working on prints for 1986 and 1987.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16She was really excited about researching for 1987,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20and that was the last time we've seen her.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Laura travelled on to her daughter Jane's cottage in the Cotswolds,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31where she celebrated her 60th birthday.
0:27:31 > 0:27:37In the early hours of the following morning, she suffered a fall.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41Laura died nine days later.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43In the afternoon we had a phone call,
0:27:43 > 0:27:47and then this news spread around the factory like wildfire,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51and everybody was in shock. We just thought it was a sick joke.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Couldn't get our head around it.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56It was just terrible, terrible news.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59CHOIR SINGS
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Laura had lived all over Europe,
0:28:08 > 0:28:14but she was laid to rest in the community closest to her heart.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19Laura's funeral in Carno was attended by over 2,000 people.
0:28:22 > 0:28:28Their presence spoke volumes about the woman behind the label Laura Ashley.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31SINGING CONTINUES
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:45 > 0:28:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk