Wakefield Shirt Co Ltd

General information

It all began in 1940 when, on the alleged flip of a coin, Isaak Donner and Frank Myers chose Wakefield to set up their factory to make men’s shirts. However, the outbreak of war meant a shortage in cotton. The alternative was a more delicate material, more suited to women’s blouses, and so, with men at war and women taking on their jobs, the company set about supplying the new female workforce.

Once the war was over, Isaak Donner introduced a patent that his family had developed, for attaching a collar to a shirt that could be easily removed by pulling a tab. A spare collar was supplied with the shirt that could be sewn on. The product was known as Double TWO!

In a pioneering move, a new, single-storey factory was built. Before then, clothing factories had always been multi-storey buildings with part-made garments flowing down chutes to each manufacturing level. The latest machinery was brought over from America. This enabled workers, paid per piece produced, to earn more than double their previous earnings!

In the 50’s, the company developed the first man-made fibre shirt using a polyester known as Terylene. As well as been quick drying, this shirt never needed ironing!

A shirt blending natural and man-made fibres was introduced soon after. In those days, when central heating wasn’t widely available, these warm shirts were big sellers.

In 1965, a shirt called ‘White Light’ was developed. This was so bright that machinists wore sunglasses when working on it!

The company continues to innovate, winning an award in 2007, for ‘Paradigm’, a 100% cotton shirt that’s non-iron and wrinkle free! This was followed in 2013 with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

The company are still run by the Donner family, and whilst Double TWO Shirts are now manufactured abroad, the design and innovation happens in Wakefield, where it all began 76 years ago!