Bernard Lewis (entrepreneur)

Bernard Lewis (born 10 February 1926) is the English entrepreneur behind the River Island fashion brand and clothing chain.

Bernard Lewis
Born (1926-02-10) 10 February 1926
NationalityBritish
EducationJewish Free School
Alma materNorthern Polytechnic Institute
OccupationFounder and owner, River Island
Net worth£2 billion[1]
Spouse(s)Vanessa Bracey (two prior wives)
ChildrenLeonard, Clive, Caroline, Sam and Jacob

Early life

He was born on 10 February 1926, and educated at the Jewish Free School, and Northern Polytechnic Institute. He helped in his parents’ greengrocer as a child and from that experience gained skills like learning how to price stock, understand what customers wanted and reduce waste.[2] He served in the RAF from 1944 to 1945.[3]

Career

Lewis opened his first fruit and vegetable shop in the North London area (on Holloway Road) at the age of 20 [4] and began selling clothing, primarily blouses and skirts, then dresses, in the 1940s.[2] His first clothes shop was in Mare Street, Hackney.[3]

During the 1970s, he launched a chain of clothing stores, later called Chelsea Girl.[5]

Lewis also founded Lewis Separates.[3]

He founded the Lewis Trust Group with his elder brother David and younger brother Geoffrey, but the latter two left in 1977.[3]

Lewis is estimated to be worth £1,030m (€1,484m).[6] In 2015, he was at position 83 on the Sunday times Rich List.[1]

River Island is now run by his nephew, Ben Lewis.[7]

Personal life

His "right-hand man in the 1970s" was Leonard, his elder son from his first marriage.[3] In 1968, he married Jennifer Oldham, née Johnston, who modeled and acted under the name Jenny Meredith.[8] She died in 1975.

In 1981, he married Vanessa Bracey who had been a buyer for Chelsea Girl since 1970, and whom he had been in a relationship with since 1972. They have two sons, Sam and Jacob.[3]

References
  1. "Sunday Times Rich List". Sunday Times (page 24). 18 May 2014.
  2. McGregor, Kirsty (2018-01-04). "The family history of River Island: Bernard Lewis and Ben Lewis". Drapersonline.com. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  3. Musgrave, Eric (2015-11-02). "From the archive: The Drapers Interview with River Island founder Bernard Lewis | The Drapers Interview | Drapers". Drapersonline.com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  4. "Times Online Special Report". The Times. London. 26 February 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
  5. Robinson, James (2007-08-19). "Rags mean riches for the River Island family". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  6. European Jewish Press: "Jewish businessmen prominent in British 'Rich List'" Archived April 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine April 24, 2006
  7. Hall, James. "Ben Lewis interview: River Island chief on reviving 80s-style Chelsea Girl". Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  8. . General Records Office. p. 5c 1417. Missing or empty |title= (help)


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