Eton

Eton began in 1928 in Gånghester, a small Swedish village. Annie Pettersson and her cousin Febe Lidar started a small workshop there, hand-sewing dresses. When the Great Depression hit, Annie’s husband, David Petterson, closed his family’s sawmill and joined the operation.

The business then shifted heavily into men’s shirts and took the name Syfabriken Special. Menswear was not a department at Eton. It was the entire business. The proposition narrowed to one product done well.

Annie’s commitment to quality shaped the company from the outset. In 1945, she summarized her philosophy in one line, “Never hand over a shirt until you are completely satisfied with it.” That line came to define how the trade understood the company.

A 1948 trip to England inspired the brand name, drawing on the town of Eton and its traditions of refinement. By 1950, the company had adopted “Eton” as its official brand name. Over the following decades, it grew into an internationally recognized shirtmaker.

Eton dress shirts come in poplin and twill, with French cuffs, bib fronts, and fly plackets. A signature red trim lines the inside of the collar band. The shirts come in a four-fit system, from super slim to classic. Eton uses Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton exclusively, a fiber that accounts for less than 2 percent of world cotton production. The company sources this cotton from Egyptian Giza and American Pima farms, and it shapes the texture and durability of every shirt.

The fashion press often places Eton alongside European shirt houses like Charvet, Turnbull & Asser, and Thomas Pink. But the brand’s defining moment is technical. In 1992, after collaborating with Swiss experts, Eton introduced the world’s first non-iron shirt made from 100 percent cotton. Harrods became the first reseller and sold more than 600 shirts in the first week alone.

The Petterson family ran Eton into the 21st century before institutional capital arrived. Swedish private equity firm Litorina acquired the company in 2012. Swedish private equity group EQT AB became the new owner in 2016. Hans Davidson, grandson of founders Annie and David Petterson, served as CEO from 1989 to 2019.

At the start of 2019, Davidson stepped down after more than 30 years in the role. He handed the position to David Thörewik, former managing director at Weekday, one of the independent brands inside the H&M group.

Eton now operates as a global dress-shirt specialist, sold in more than 1,500 stores across over 50 countries. Flagship stores stand in Stockholm, Frankfurt, London, and New York, and the brand stocks at Harrods, Selfridges, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus.

Eton dresses professionals, wedding parties, and formalwear customers who want a dress shirt under a tailored suit. In price and positioning, the brand sits above mainstream shirtmakers and below bespoke Jermyn Street houses.