Clothes make the man, so it is hardly any wonder some of the world’s most admired celebrities love their Private White V.C. jackets.
This British brand of hand-made garments are favoured by style icons and legends from the world of sport, entertainment and fashion.
And they should be worn with immense pride – because they are produced by the family of one of Britain’s greatest war heroes.
Jack White showed the kind of intelligence and courage worthy of James Bond – most recently played by Daniel Craig, who is as big a fan of the jackets as football idols David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand.
Jack was 20 when he won the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honour for valour in the presence of the enemy, during the First World War.
Now, 103 years after Jack’s daring deeds, his name lives on through the clothes that are found on the backs of actors such as Happy Valley’s James Norton, Sherlock’s Martin Freeman and Game of Throne’s Kit Harington.
Model David Gandy and TV chefs Tom Kerridge and Jamie Oliver are also big fans.
Jack, born Jacob Weiss in Leeds, was among the first wave of young men to sign up for active service when he joined the King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) at 18.
He was originally posted to Gallipoli, Turkey, before being sent to Kut in Iraq in an attempt to win back the former British Army base which had been overrun by Ottoman forces.
It was here in 1917 that the signaller’s heroics earned him the VC.
Jack and his unit were trying to cross the Diyala River on a pontoon carrying weapons and ammo. They were ambushed by Turks who opened fire from the riverbank, showering the Brits with bullets.
Jack’s citation for his actions on March 7 and 8 read: “For most conspicuous bravery and resource. This signaller during an attempt to cross a river saw the two pontoons ahead of him come under heavy machine-gun fire, with disastrous results.
“When his own pontoon had reached midstream, with every man except himself either dead or wounded, finding that he was unable to control the pontoon, Pte White promptly tied a telephone wire to the pontoon, jumped overboard and towed it to the shore, thereby saving an officer’s life and bringing to land the rifles and equipment of the other men in the boat, who were either dead or dying.”
After the war, Jack returned home to a hero’s welcome and was presented with his VC by King George V at Buckingham Palace on April 3 1919.
Back home, he embarked on his career in textiles in Manchester, first as a trainee pattern cutter. He would become general manager and then the owner of the red-brick factory on the River Irwell.
The firm, which later launched Private White V.C. still calls the factory home.
In 1916 it supplied the Allies with cotton gabardine trench coats. In the 40s it was commissioned by the war ministry to supply the RAF with waterproof parkas.
Jack, who was born into a Jewish family, was pictured laying a wreath at the Cenotaph in 1935 after the Jewish ex-Servicemen’s national remembrance service with fellow VC hero Leonard Keysor.
But despite having won the VC in 1917, Jack was denied the chance to serve Britain in the Home Guard during the Second World War because his parents were deemed not to have been fully naturalised as British.
Left to his career on civvy street, Jack still managed to do his part as an air raid warden. He also travelled the land to give talks about his experiences in the First World War.
Jack wrote to the Times newspaper calling for the formation of a specialist armed unit of British Jews willing to fight the Nazis on the front line and mete out revenge for the persecution of his people.
In the aftermath of the Second World War he helped to resettle survivors of the atrocities.
When he died in 1949 his reputation as a hero was well established – but his impact on fashion was yet to come.
Three generations later, Jack’s great-grandson James Eden was working for Deutsche Bank in London. Meanwhile, the family textile business in Manchester had fallen on hard times.
The factory bought by Jack all those years ago was working on small commissions from high end brands such as Burberry and Aquascutum.
They paid the White family operation for its traditional craftmanship, still some of the finest in the country. But business had slowed with the arrival of fast fashion and cheap labour in Asia.
James decided to take up the challenge and left the world of finance in 2010 to return to the family firm.
He launched the brand Private White V.C. with the help of creative director Nick Ashley, the son of Laura Ashley. The move was such a success the brand went on to open a flagship store in Mayfair, central London.
James said: “Grandpa Jack’s story is at the heart of everything we do.
“One hundred years after his heroism this is a brand which celebrates the best of British but we’re also proud to be international.
We have 19 nationalities in our factory, people who come form all over the world to make some of the best quality clothes on the market. That’s what this country is about.
We don’t pay for celebrities or chase trends.”
The brand soon became a favourite among bastions of British fashion.
Princess Anne visited the Manchester factory as President of the UK Fashion & Textile Association.
Private White V.C. jackets are an international hit, having also been worn by Superman star Henry Cavill.
The label is chosen by some iconic men but none are more heroic than the man who started it all.
