Their business began when they opened a small drapery shop on Oxford Street for men's furnishings. The pair gained a reputation for quality goods amongst wealthy customers, and their business grew to include tailoring, shirts, ties, handkerchiefs, hosiery, socks, suits, overcoats, underwear, hats, scarves and more.
The brand expanded by opening more shops around London. By 1893 there were seven stores across London alone.
A&F was incorporated as a limited company in 1899 with David Titterton as chairman. By 1910 the Titterton family had run the company for several generations; the fourth generation was David's son Eric Titterton who took on the role of managing director in 1930. The company continued to expand with new shops opening up across England until World War II halted expansion.
After the war the company began to grow again with new franchisees, firstly outside of England but later also within England itself.
Its popularity rose during the 1960s with models such as Twiggy helping to increase sales. A&F stores became an international brand by opening up shop in continental Europe during this time period. In 1972 the first A&F store opened outside of Europe in Washington D.C..
With its worldwide expansion under way, A&F suffered major setbacks during the 1980s due to poor management decisions by management at that time which resulted in large debts and losses for the company.
However A&F revived during this decade due to effective management decisions by new owners who also introduced new marketing techniques including television advertising which helped revive interest in the brand among younger consumers for whom fashion was becoming an increasingly important aspect of social life.
The modern A&F was formed when private equity group Apax Partners acquired the company from David Titterton's family in 1992 for £225m (US$400m). Utilising its cross-border marketing skills it has expanded rapidly since then not only within the United Kingdom but also across Europe with stores now located throughout Europe including France Italy , Sweden , Norway , Denmark , Spain
