Angels is the world longest-established supplier of costumes to the entertainment industry and general public. A British business that has supplied costumes to 27 films that have received Best Costume Oscars, the most recent being Marie Antionette, the company is unique as having been in the same family for six consecutive generations.
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Morris Angel started his business in 1840 in the Seven Dials area of London, near Covent Garden, selling second-hand clothing and tailors samples from Savile Row. Morris Angel shop became popular with theatrical actors, who at that time had to purchase their own clothes and costumes for auditions and performances. It was a request from actors to hire rather than buy outfits for the duration of a performance which served as catalyst for the launch of the costume-hiring business that is the Angels trade to this day.
Morris Angel brought his son Daniel into the business in 1870, and seven years later, the family opened a shop on Shaftesbury Avenue (this shop is now the site of Angels Fancy Dress). The quality and style of the clothes offered by Daniel was of a very high quality, and soon theatrical managers superseded the actor clients in seeking his expertise and services for their West End shows; by 1921, every major show in London West End was being dressed by the Angel family.
With the advent of cinema, the Angel family made their second major diversification by supplying costumes to the new movie industry. The crystallization of the success of this move came when Angels supplied its first Academy Award-winning costumes to Laurence Olivier Hamlet in 1948. To date, 26 further Best Costume Oscars have followed for work that the company has undertaken on major international films, including Star Wars, Titanic, Lawrence Of Arabia, The Great Gatsby, The Aviator and Memoirs of a Geisha. At the time of writing, two movies – The Queen and Marie Antoinette featuring costumes supplied by Angels have just received 2007 Oscar nominations for Achievement In Costume Design.
Today, this London-based business occupies a unique position as London (and the world) longest-established supplier of costumes. The business has two divisions: Angels The Costumiers, based in North London, which supplies the TV, film and theatre industries worldwide from its warehouse which contains over a million costumes spread across 5.5 miles worth of hanging rails. Angels Fancy Dress, on Shaftesbury Avenue, is the leading UK supplier of top class fancy-dress costumes and together with the Angels website provides the largest range of party outfits and accessories in the UK.
Tim Angel is the fifth generation of the family to work in the business and is Company Chairman (as well as being former Chairman of BAFTA). A long-running tradition in the Angel family is that the first son of each generation is named either Morris or Daniel. Tim (whose first name is Morris) joined his father, Daniel, in the family business in 1967. He now works from the Hendon Head Office with son, Daniel. Tim daughter, Emma runs Angels Fancy Dress.
Angels Fancy Dress has supplied fancy dress items to parties hosted by Sir Mick Jagger and Sir Elton John, and is regularly used by members of the Royal Family, though the controversial Nazi uniform worn by Prince Harry in 2004 did not come from Angels, as they have a policy of non-rental of politically sensitive costumes.
In the late 80s, fashion designer Alexander McQueen worked at Angels.
In September 2005, the original cloak worn by Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi in George Lucas Star Wars film was rediscovered hanging on the rails at Angels Fancy Dress having been unwittingly available to the general public for some time as a monks-style robe, and having been used as crowd scene costumes in films including The Mummy. The provenance of the piece was confirmed by John Mollo, who created the item for the film in 1977, and received an Oscar for Best Costume for the work of the film.
The Obi Wan Kenobi cloak was auctioned by Bonhams in London on March 6th 2007 for 55,000. It formed part of a sale of 400 lots from the Angels archive ??alongside iconic costumes from James Bond, Dr Who, and Highlander, and items worn onscreen by Ava Gardner, Erroll Flyn, David Niven.
For the first time in the history of the Bonhams auction house, members of the general public were able to try on items before placing bids.