Vollers is an English corset company that we haven’t more than mentioned before on The Lingerie Post, but has been
around for over 100 years! The family-owned company began in 1899 when Henry Voller left school and learned the art of corset making at Totterdell and Sons in Portsmouth. He started the business with his wife, Nelly, who was already a corsetiere. The company is now owned by Ian Voller and his wife Corina, who are the fourth generation of Vollers (and the first husband-and-wife team since Harry and Nelly). Ian Voller sent TLP a bit of history about the company:
“We are probably the oldest established corset makers in the world today. My great-grandfather handed the business down to my grandfather and he handed it on to my father and uncle. They worked together and then after World War II, when my father came back, he took over the shop and my uncle ran the factory…eventually [my uncle] became ill with a tumour on the brain and he was unable to continue. He had it run as a retirement business with six machinists working on just three days a week. In 1991 we took it over. All our friends thought we were mad, they couldn’t understand what we were doing getting involved in a factory producing corsets.”
Of course I’m glad they did, though, and I’m sure they are too: the business has steadily grown and has expanded by 800% in recent years! Vollers supplies Selfridges, Rigby & Peller, and there is even one available on Figleaves UK (with glowing reviews, I might add!) And as for the future of the company? Ian said,
“We are just about to team up with a top wedding dress design company so that will be an exciting new departure for us…I hope there will always be a place for corsets – we have been going for more than 100 years so I don’t see why we shouldn’t continue for a long while yet.”
When shopping for a Vollers corset, deduct between two and four inches from your waist measurement to get the right size, and made-to-measure corsets are available. Vollers also has a brand-new showroom open, so you can see your corset before you buy and get personalized help. I know you’re anxious to see the jaw-dropping photos by now, so here they are:
