Inside Laura Ashley's 地下組織の （船に）燃料を積み込む／（軍）地下えんぺい壕: When the label 倍のd in 2020, its 古記録 went into subterranean 貯蔵. As the British brand celebrates its 70th 周年記念日, Jenny 支持を得ようと努めるd 減少（する）s in for a special 見解（をとる）ing

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The 産業の 場所／位置 in Winsford, in the heart of the rolling Cheshire countryside, looks a lot like any other, with 激しい 機械／機構 and piles of grit waiting to be spread on the nation's motorways. Yet more than 500 feet beneath this prosaic setting, in a still-操作の salt 地雷, lies a treasure trove of British fashion history, a repository filled with thousands of rare finds: the secret Laura Ashley 古記録.

Few labels 動かす affection and nostalgia like Laura Ashley. Most people over the age of 35 have memories of prairie-style floral dresses or chintz cushions on their grandma's sofa. The fact that Ashley was a real person ? and her designs sold on the high street rather than in high-end boutiques ? made the brand more relatable than others of the day.

But while its 人気 急に上がるd throughout the late 20th century (Princess Diana 原因（となる）d pieces to sell out when she wore them), the English romantic countryside look fell out of fashion; the brand failed to move with the times and it finally went into 行政 during the Covid pandemic.

It wasn't the end of the story, though. Celebrating its 70th 周年記念日 this year, Laura Ashley has risen again. Rather than sell 直接／まっすぐに, the brand now 作品 with partners: M&S, John 吊りくさび, Next and B& Q. There's also a 共同 with New York designer Batsheva Hay to create a collection of dresses in updated 70s prints from the 古記録.

The 推論する／理由 for this resurgence? When the 会社／堅い 倍のd in 2020, 全世界の （a）忠告の／（n）警報 and 投資 会社／堅い Gordon Brothers, who bought the brand and 知識人 所有物／資産／財産 権利s, had the foresight to 保存する the 古記録, sending everything from the London and むちの跡s （警察，軍隊などの）本部 to Deepstore. Part of the UK's oldest working 地雷, it 供給するs grit for our roads ? but also 安全な・保証する 貯蔵 for over 3.2 million 極度の慎重さを要する 文書s, priceless artworks and historic artefacts.

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Archivist Bronwyn Gaffney with the 1953 Pelham scarf. Celebrating its 70th 周年記念日 this year, Laura Ashley has risen again

Public 記録，記録的な／記録するs, museum pieces, 私的な art collections ? even Sir Norman Foster's architectural 記録，記録的な／記録するs ? sit in caverns excavated from 採掘 millions of トンs of 激しく揺する salt. Larger than 700 football pitches, Deepstore 持続するs an ambient 気温 of 15C and balanced 湿度, 要求するd to 保存する delicate mat erials. 自然に 解放する／自由な from 紫外 light, vermin and flooding, it is also difficult to 接近. Few even know it 存在するs.

存在 the first '非軍事の' to enter the 古記録 is わずかに surreal. After my safety training, I don a high-vis vest and hard hat (adorned with on-brand floral stickers) and buckle up a leather belt with a 'self-救助者' 道具 含む／封じ込めるing 緊急 breathing apparatus. Fresh 空気／公表する from above is 絶えず 軍隊d through, but with only three 軸s serving the 175km 過密な住居 of caverns, it's best to be 用意が出来ている.

Crammed into a clunky carriage, I feel my ears pop as we descend the 高さ of the Blackpool Tower in one and a half minutes, a flurry of salty dust pluming around us as we reach the 底（に届く）. Inside the 地雷, it's 全く 静かな. A 罰金 層 of pinkish dust covers everything, while salt 水晶 塀で囲むs glisten under lightbulbs 総計費. It all smells musty, like the inside of a vintage wardrobe.

We're taken by minibus along dark tunnels to the 古記録, a space the 高さ of two 二塁打-decker buses in places, filled with unassuming 閣僚s. They house hundreds of thousands of priceless items: 着せる／賦与するing, 従犯者s, 見本 調書をとる／予約するs, 手渡す-drawn artworks, fabrics and wallpapers, 含むing much-loved prints 同様に as never 開始する，打ち上げるd, unseen patterns.

Author Jenny 支持を得ようと努めるd and 長，率いる of design Helen Ashmore with 製図／抽選s from the collection. After the panic of the pandemic, archivist Bronwyn Gaffney and her team are now busy 目録ing collected items both vintage and modern

Iconic designs from the 1960s, 70s and 80s 側面に位置する a 見本 wedding dress that was modelled by Kate Moss

After the panic of the pandemic, archivist Bronwyn Gaffney and her team are now busy 目録ing collected items both vintage and modern: 壊れやすい pieces and photos, racks of dresses and 無作為の items, from crockery to bedspreads. These treasures are the 重要な to the brand's resurgence. 'This is a living, working 古記録,' explains Helen Ashmore, 長，率いる of design. 'We come here to 研究 each season 's design direction.' But the team aren't just replicating the past. 'We're 絶えず tweaking and 罰金-tuning, updating colours, reimagining tiny prints on a bigger 規模; finding, say, a flower bud from one piece and 連合させるing it with a 形態／調整 from どこかよそで.'

Ashmore shows me vintage sketches 株d with Batsheva Hay. 'The colour, sleeves and 詳細（に述べる）s on many are timeless, so we're 絶えず going 支援する to old 製図／抽選s, 解釈する／通訳するing them for a modern silhouette,' she says, as we flick through 1977 designs for smocked bikinis, balloon trousers and voluminous dresses with dropped waists.

In one chest we find 手渡す-painted gouache artwork for a 1992 tulip print that's 存在 reworked for the 70th 周年記念日. どこかよそで, 撤退 racks 含む／封じ込める neatly 倍のd fabric 見本s; cardboard boxes are packed with tissue paper-wrapped shoes, grosgrain-略章d hats and lace-trimmed parasols; there are 瓶／封じ込めるs of No 1, the first perfume, 開始する，打ち上げるd in the 80s; and a crate of old wallpaper 見本 調書をとる／予約するs, one of which, with swan patterns and a vivid 70s colour palette of emeralds, ochres and purples, fed into Hay's collection for her label Batsheva. Another swatch shows a delicate 1988 chinoiserie summer palace print, recently reworked for nightwear.

The dresses draw my biggest gasps: a green （土地などの）細長い一片d 1966 gardening smock; a late 60s purple bibbed dress in 手渡す-printed chequerboard fabric; a blue 70s high-collared maxi with romantic puffed sleeves; an 80s 減少（する）-waist sailor dress; a ruched 80s frock in pastel floral Emma print (指名するd after Laura's daughter); and a flouncy 見本 wedding dress worn by Kate Moss for a 1991 Brides magazine shoot. It's striking 売春婦 w beautifully made everything is, with an attention to 詳細（に述べる） that's rare these days.

The team is 絶えず 追跡（する）ing for new 新規加入s to the 古記録. 同様に as 受託するing 寄付s (one Facebook fan group has half a million 信奉者s), they scour online auctions for unusual pieces. 'Heraldic animal prints are 特に sought-after, fetching £400-£500 for a dress on Etsy or Ebay,' says Gaffney. 'We also 設立する an Emma dress for about £150 on Vinted; and recently bought a tiny-waisted skirt and jacket for nearly £600 from an Instagram 販売人 ? it was a swan print but in a lime green we'd never seen before.'

How much is all this 価値（がある）? 'While some of the vintage dresses are expensive ? for instance, we never see garden smocks come up for auction ? the real value is historical and sentimental,' says Ashmore. '特に anything from the 早期に days, such as Ashley's handwritten letters. It's impossible to put a price on a 遺産／遺物 like that.'

Ashley in 1976. The fact that Ashley was a real person ? and her designs sold on the high street rather than in high-end boutiques ? made the brand more relatable than others of the day

The rarest, oldest piece is the Pelham scarf, a 審査する-printed cotton square with a red geometric design, handmade by Ashley on her kitchen （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in 1953 and 耐えるing her 署名. After visiting a Women's 学校／設ける 展示 of handicrafts at London's Victoria & Albert museum, Ashley, then 28, was 奮起させるd to create her own prints and patterns. 'Her husband, Bernard, bought the 構成要素s to make a 審査する-printing 圧力（をかける） for just £10,' says Gaffney. 'She started with tea towels and scarves, 進歩ing to aprons and tablecloths then gardening smocks in the 60s: her first foray into fashion.' Apart from a small 展示 of dresses at Bath Fashion Museum in 2013, nothing from the 古記録 has ever been on public 陳列する，発揮する.

It wasn't all made by her ? the 古記録 houses antique Victorian 着せる／賦与するing, 初めの artworks and photographs collected over the years. 'It often surprises people to hear Laura wasn't an artist or designer,' says Ashmore. 'She was more what we'd 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 today a creative director, and the look was her 見通し. She didn't sketch designs, but was very 手渡すs-on. We've 設立する 公式文書，認めるs asking designers to do something in a 明確な／細部 colour, or for （土地などの）細長い一片s to be a particular width, 同様に as annotated pages of photographs, magazines and 調書をとる／予約するs. Ashley loved travel ? she and Bernard had homes in フラン, Florida's Palm Beach and the Bahamas, so she'd wander around museums, finding inspiration everywhere.'

At the 高さ of the company's success, in 1985, Laura Ashley died, after 落ちるing 負かす／撃墜する the stairs at her eldest daughter Jane's house in the Cotswolds, where she'd just celebrated her 60th birthday. Whil e the 商売／仕事 continued without her, many felt its soul had gone. 'By the time it went into 行政, it seemed out of style,' says Ashmore. 'But fashion goes in cycles and always comes 支援する around.'

As we 長，率いる 支援する to the surface, I wonder how Laura might feel, 70 years after that first scarf, to see her life's work 保存するd in this way. 'I think she'd be amazed and incredibly proud,' says Ashmore. 'A new 世代 is discovering [her] and this 古記録 will play a 決定的な part in its 未来.'

LAURA ASHLEY THROUGH THE AGES

1925: Laura Mountney born in Dowlais, South むちの跡s

1953: Begins to 審査する-print scarves and tea towels at her kitchen （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する

1959:? Gardening aprons and smocks are introduced ? and bought by style-savvy 顧客s to wear as dresses

1968: 拡大するing? into fashion, the brand opens its first shop. In 1970 the Fulham Road 蓄える／店 開始する，打ち上げるs and sells 4,000 dresses in a week

1972: Laura's favourite wildflower, the bramble, features on the new logo: the perfect reflection of her brand

1980: Lady Diana Spencer, a brand fan, is photographed wearing a diaphanous skirt. The 'Diana 影響' sends sales 急に上がるing

1981:? Laura Ashley Home ? the mail-order 目録 ? is published. The Laura Ashley 調書をとる／予約する of Home Decorating follows in 1982

1985: Laura dies just days after her 60th birthday. Two months later a 株式市場 開始する，打ち上げる values the company at £200 million

2000: With high-street sales in 超過 of £276 million, the company 明かすs its website

2019: Iconic Laura Ashley fashion from the 70s and 80s is 生き返らせるd in a 共同 with 都市の Outfitters

2021: The brand partners with Next to 再提出する the home collection, and with desi gn label Batsheva to reimagine iconic styles and print.

2023: To celebrate 70 years of 遺産 there will be a special 版 collection across both 内部のs and fashion