Accessories Incorporated history

Fashion plate showing woman wearing a shawl folded in half in 1801

About 1808 the Witzchoura mantle a fashion from Poland was a fur trimmed three quarter length mantle with wide open sleeves.

Then about 1810 as the true Regency era began, the flat soled boot was worn by fashionable women for general wear.

By 1811, the massive huge fur, feather or shirred silk muffs which began the C19th disappeared totally ending the fashion with smaller rounder muffs.

At the height of the Regency era and beyond 1815 the bonnet size increased until the crown was very big and culminated in the Leghorn style shown right.

regency bonnets coal scuttle hats history 1817

Two decades later this Regency fashion plate of 1820 shows the lady wearing her shawl as a stole.

A Witzchoura Mantle from the Regency Era 1821.

Winter cloaks like this red cloak mantle of 1827 left were fur lined.

Below – Witzchoura Mantle from the later Romantic Era showing actual lines and a fashion plate of 1835 showing a brown mantle.

In 1900, the then governor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt witnessed a ‘hatpin brigade’ who came to hear him speak.

The first case where a woman’s hatpin was used as a safety tool came in 1903.

AR Accessories was formed as Amity Leather Products Company in 1915, by Robert H. Rolfs.

Rolfs incorporated the Amity Leather Products Company in February of 1916, with initial capital stock of $25,000.

Rolfs moved the operation in 1917 to another West Bend location, the third floor of the Hangartner Building.

In 1924 Amity built and moved into an entirely new building of its own, on South Main St in West Bend, outfitted with state-of-the-art leather goods manufacturing equipment.

Another expansion of company headquarters took place in 1930.

In 1932 the company introduced a new line of high quality billfolds named for its founder.

In 1937 Amity introduced a product that changed the wallet industry forever.

Amity added another new product, the travel kit, to its line in 1940.

By 1946 the company was ready to expand yet again.

In 1959 the company built a new administrative office building in West Bend, adjacent to its South Main St manufacturing and office compound.

Robert Rolfs died in 1965, exactly half a century after launching his company.

1968: Mel Marks starts Motorcar Parts & Accessories, Inc. (MPA) to distribute imported auto parts.

Giorgio Armani history, profile and history video Giorgio Armani founded his eponymous Italian fashion house in 1975.

In 1976 the company established an international division to market its products outside of the United States.

In 1979, Marks was joined by his son, Richard Marks, who gained experience in the business by owning and operating his own import automotive parts store.

Growth remained steady, and in 1980 the company again found it necessary to enlarge its West Bend administrative building.

1986: MPA enters remanufacturing business.

Domestic Remanufacturing Beginning in 1987

In 1988 Amity produced a series of full-page color magazine ads that focused heavily on craftsmanship, using the tagline "Good Things Last." The following year Amity switched gears in its advertising and, instead, began to point more toward their products' prestige and fashion values.

In 1990 the company finished work on a design center--an extension of its West Bend complex--that housed not only Amity's design staff but an employee fitness center as well.

The company's spark plug wire set business, launched in 1992, was a much less intricate process, involving components manufactured to MPA specifications by third parties.

In 1993 the company came out with its "Macro Bag," a sort of mini-purse small enough to wear under a coat, yet big enough to carry a checkbook, glasses, and other essential handbag items.

In 1994 the company purchased the Connecticut-based New England Accessories, acquiring in the process the license to make the Duck Head Apparel line of personal leather goods.

To better serve its East Coast and southern markets, in May 1995 the company also established a 31,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in Nashville, Tennessee.

In August of 1996 the company announced that it had adopted a new corporate name, AR Accessories Group, Inc., marking the first name change in its history.

To fund necessary factory upgrades, MPA made a secondary offering of stock in 1997.

In 1998, the company opened a second Torrance manufacturing plant, as well as signed a lease on a larger facility in Nashville, which not only provided distribution and warehousing functions but also the manufacture of spark plug wire sets.

That trend would continue through much of fiscal 1999, but by the time the company prepared to report year-end results, questions by senior management and the board were raised about accounting procedures.

In addition, MPA became the subject of an SEC investigation in early 2000.

While that lingered, the class-action suit was settled in September 2001, with the plaintiffs receiving $7.5 million.

Morana, which was born offering jewelry with bijoux aspect to consumers, emerges in the 21st century, in 2002, already within this retail trend, contributing to a democratic consumption of parts whatever the occasion, but mainly for the benefit of its welfare.

Genova, A. (2012). A History and Overview of Accessory Design.

Many bijoux already carried that element and some brands return to the Autumn Winter 2016 with this detail highlighted.