Skip to main content
Our legacy

Our legacy

The power of dedication and audacity has defined our story since 1928.

In the midst of the great depression, we built a successful company by focusing on perfecting the shirt. That dedication to our craft is our foundation.
We build on nearly a century’s worth of craftsmanship and commitment to quality and style — a heritage you can touch and feel in every product, and always will.
From claiming and redefining our name, to reimagining the shirt to change our industry — time and again, we have dared to take leaps into the unknown and grow. We have the audacity to believe that our dreams can become reality, and the confidence to take on challenges and opportunities to make them do so.
We do not believe that audacity to do the un- expected and the power of dedication can propel us towards our next goal: we know they can.

image of the funders of eton

1928 | Birth

The company that would become Eton is launched by a young woman, Annie Petterson. Known from the start for dedication to craft, and quality, we take our first steps from the small Swedish village of Gånghester to the world. Soon, Annie's husband David decides to join her growing enterprise. In the midst of a great economic downturn, Annie and David build a successful company, "Syfabriken Special" by focusing on perfecting the shirt.

striped retro image of eton shirt

1948 | The ”Eton” shirt

We travel the world in search of the finest fabrics. One day, passing through the town of Eton, England, our founders’ sons are amazed by the number of well-dressed young men they see. Inspired, we create an “Eton shirt” that captures that effort-less elegance... The dress shirt is such a success that in 1950 we rename our company Eton.

1955 | International Launch

We expand beyond our native Sweden, starting with exclusive retail stores in one of menswear’s capitals, London. Scandinavia, Germany, and France follow.

map of eton launch spots

sketches of women shirt launch

1979–1989 | An Audacious Move:ShirtsforWomen

Being Eton we decide to boldly try something new: designing women’s as well as men’s shirts. A decade’s long endeavor, it left us a rich treasure of patterns and prints that inspired us to develop in new and expressive ways.

old eton logotype

1984 | A New Vision: The Leading Shirt Brand

In 1984, we decide to launch a new, bold plan: to become the leading Swedish shirt brand — we are blessed, our shirts are soon found in many of Europe’s most exclusive department stores. A new slogan says it all: “No other shirt is sewn with greater care.”

model wearing most iconic white shirt styled with tie

1990 | Our Most Iconic shirt

We began — and never stopped — developing our most iconic shirt: a sharply wrinkle-free dress shirt in our Signature Twill; a fabric that is both durable and beautiful: with a soft luster and even softer drape. Developed, in short, to go hand-in-glove with the wrinkle-free finish we're known for, and optimal color retention.

image of draped shirt fabric

1992 | Reimagine the Shirt

We do the unthinkable: we revolutionize our industry. We invent the first ever wrinkle free cotton shirt, and make it as luxurious as our other shirts — perhaps even more so, as our finishing process gives the fabric even more luster, and increased durability.

stop aids shirt eton

1994 | The Stop Aids Shirt

Although unknown in North America, we design and donate a “Stop AIDS” shirt for the AIDS Foundation in the USA — and are proud to see stars wearing our shirt to the Oscars, communicating their support for science and against stigma.

eton brand store london

2003 | Launch Our Own Brand Stores

London is first out — The US, and Continental Europe to follow.

close up of eton ties

2008 | Launch Eton Accessories

Another bold design leap for us — inspired by shirt “trimmings” (the little details that make all the difference: the piping, buttons, and thread) we create and launch our first menswear accessories collection, enhancing the shirt-wearing experience.

black background

2008 | “The world’s most expensive shirt”

We celebrate our 80th anniversary by creating the world’s most expensive dress shirt: cut from exclusive Sea Island cotton, and made with diamond buttons — and auctioning it off in favor of a Children’s Hospital in London.

diamond shirt by eton

eton site when launching 2013

2013 | Online Flagship Store

Eton opens the doors to its own, exclusive online store: etonshirts.com.

model in white shirt and tie

2020 | Sustainability Goals

Celebrating the quality and longevity our shirts, and our unique way to cooperate with our suppliers, we launch new sustainability goals: aiming to, among other things, have 100% organic or recycled cotton by 2025 and be climate neutral by 2035.

etonshirts.com launch in japan and korea image

2021 | Enter Japan and South Korea

Excited introduce the shirts we are so proud of, to new, style- loving people, we launch in Japan and South Korea.