H. & M Rayne was founded in 1889 as a theatrical costumier by Henry and Mary Rayne and located close to The Old Vic in Lambeth. Early clients included Ballets Russes, Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. Its reputation earned it clients across society – it made shoes for actress and Edward VII’s mistress Lillie Langtry; later it made shoes for Queen Mary, who awarded the company the first of its three Royal Warrants.
Henry and Mary Rayne’s son Joseph inherited the shoe side of the business and opened a store at 58 New Bond Street in 1920, capitalising on the trend for shoes as a fashion item. However, initially it was still known as a theatrical costumier – a December 1920 report in The Times detailed how goods to the value of approximately £479 had been stolen from the theatrical store’s Bond Street premises, comprising two pairs of ‘dandy’ shoes, one pair of bronze shoes, paste buckles and 204 pairs of women’s silk stockings. During this era, it also had a store at 15 Rupert Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue.
By 1928 the company had become a Private Limited Company. In a 1929 report to shareholders, the company notined that its retail presence by having its own stores helped to maintain even output in manufacturing, overcoming the traditional footwear-market problem of fixed ‘seasons’ followed by downturns in wholesale trade. In 1936, during the height of the Depression, the company was seeking to expand. In 1951, the shareholders’ meeting reported increased profits of £72,070.
Joseph Rayne died in 1952 and his son Edward became chairman of the family firm at the age of 29. He had inherited a successful company with a healthy balance sheet that was very much part of the British society dress code. A pair of flat pumps with a bow originally designed for the actress Gertrude Lawrence had remained the company’s bestselling line for 50 years, worn by society and theatricals alike. The company was active as an exporter, its shoes were sold to 12 countries and had high-profile clients such as Vivien Leigh, Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth who were paying up to £40 for a pair of Rayne shoes.
Although Edward was young, he had been schooled in shoemaking from the age of 16. He had undertaken a long apprenticeship at their factory in King’s Cross. A decade after he took over the firm he established a joint venture with US shoe firm Delman, giving them a presence in New York’s Fifth Avenue. Rayne’s 1954 review to shareholders noted that the company’s three shops had produced record profits.
Stage designer Oliver Messel was enlisted to create the interior of the new Delman-branded store for H. & M. Rayne in Bond Street in 1960. As Alison Settle noted, whereas upmarket shoe stores had been discreet enclaves dressed with curtains and pot plants – with shoes consigned to underground stores – this refit incorporated display stands and cases, some of them illuminated, to show off hundreds of pairs of shoes. Her article in The Observer said: “Mr Messel and Mr Rayne are at one in thinking that shoes to buy should be as easy to see and handle as books in a library”.[13] The Rayne brand’s reputation for supplying shoes to royalty continued; at the marriage of Princess Margaret to Messel’s nephew Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960, the senior female royal party (Queen Mother, Queen, Princess Margaret) were all clad in Rayne shoes.[14][15]
By 1960, the shoes designed by Roger Vivier for Dior were made at Rayne’s and personally supervised by Edward. Four years later, Vivier began selling Rayne brand shoes in his Rue François store in Paris. The company also stayed in tune with mainstream direction of fashion - Mary Quant shoes were first displayed in its flagship store. The company also retained a stake in the mass market, with an interest in both H.E. Randall and Lotus chainstores. By 1966, Rayne was showcasing what were known as ‘Young Design quartet’ - Jean Muir, Roger Nelson, Moya Bowler and Gerald McCann - capitalising on London’s thirst for younger designers by getting them to design fashionable shoes in a more affordable price bracket, with designs being sold in Harrods and some high-street shoe shops. Rayne also maintained a strong foothold in the couture end of shoe production – indeed his role as chair of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers from 1960 meant his shoes were shown as part of the twice annual fashion events held by the society. He also enlisted designers such as Norman Hartnell.
By 1970, Rayne shoes were included in the Molyneux collection with The Guardian reporting that it was thought to be the first time a French couture house had used branded British shoes. In autumn of that year, Rayne opened its own store in Paris, the first shoemaker to do so since Lobb. Rayne was also designing shoes for other French brands, including Nina Ricci and Lanvin, while in the UK it had recruited new designers such as Bill Gibb.
In 1975, Rayne was sold to the department-store chain Debenhams. Edward Rayne joined the boards of Debenhams and Harvey Nichols. Debenhams was sold to Burton Group in 1985, and in 1987 Rayne was acquired by the David Graham. The company ceased trading in 2003.
The contribution of H. & M. Rayne, especially under Edward Rayne’s leadership, was showcased in an exhibition held at the Fashion and Textile Museum in 2015. Rayne shoes are held in several archives, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
