What is Laura Ashley?
'''Laura Ashley''' (née '''Mountney'''; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a [[fashion designer]] and business woman from [[Wales]]. She began by making simple items out of her own printed cloth, but when her work became more popular she opened factories making clothes and [[furniture]] too. Ashley, along with her husband Bernard, set up a large business to sell her designs, with 219 across the world. The business faced difficult times in the 1990s, after Ashley's death, but there are still many Laura Ashley shops today, in [[Europe]], Asia and [[Australia]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales|publisher=University of Wales Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6|editor1-last=Davies|editor1-first=John|editor1-link=John Davies (historian)|location=Cardiff|page=39|editor2-last=Jenkins|editor2-first=Nigel|editor2-link=Nigel Jenkins|editor3-last=Menna|editor3-first=Baines|editor4-last=Lynch|editor4-first=Peredur I.}}</ref> == References == {{reflist}} {{bio-stub}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Laura}} [[Category:1925 births]] [[Category:1985 deaths]] [[Category:Welsh people]] [[Category:British fashion designers]]