‘Panic’ was to be his debut into the fashion bible Vogue and was photographed by Cecil Beaton. By the late 1930s, Hardy was designing the entire Lachasse collection. His second celebration creation was ‘Made in England’, a biscuit-coloured checked suit for the Hollywood ingénue Mildred Shay. He left Lachasse in 1939 and joined the House of Worth in 1941. At the outbreak of World War II, he had been recruited into military intelligence because of his fluent German and French. He listed among his accomplishments on his application mountaineering, shooting, boxing and sketching. Amies saw service in the Special Operations Executive or SOE. Posted to SOE Headquarters in Baker Street in London, Amies was put in charge of the Belgium section and worked with the various Belgian resistance groups organising sabotage assignments. Amies rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. SOE's commander Major General Colin Gubbins did not regard a dressmaker as suitable military material, but his training report stated:  "This officer is far tougher both physically and mentally than his rather precious appearance would suggest. He possesses a keen brain and an abundance of shrewd sense. His only handicap is his precious appearance and manner, and these are tending to decrease." On 12 November 1945; Virginia, the Countess of Jersey (erstwhile Hollywood film star and the first Mrs. Cary Grant), who had been a former client during Hardy’s days at Laschasse, financed Hardy Amies move to Savile Row. The following January, Amies established his own couture fashion house business: Hardy Amies Ltd. Although Savile Row is the home of English bespoke tailoring, the Hardy Amies brand developed to become known for its classic and beautifully tailored clothes for both men and women. Hardy’s business quickly took off in the postwar years when customers, who had been deprived of couture for the preceding years, snapped up his elegant, traditional designs. Hardy was quoted at the times as saying, “A woman's day clothes must look equally good at Salisbury Station as the Ritz bar”. Amies was vice-chairman of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers from 1954 to 56, and chairman from 1959 to 60. Hardy Amies was located at 14 Savile Row since 1946, until early 2019 when the store closed permanently. Amies was successful in business by being able to commercially extract value from his designs, while not replicating his brand to the point of exploitation.