Historic luggage brand John Pound returns to the carousel

One of the oldest luggage brands in the world is to be relaunched in the UK after it was purchased from John Lewis.

John Pound was founded in London in 1823 and made trunks and luggage for the upper classes. It is older than the French luxury luggage brands Louis Vuitton and Moynat and now designer Stuart Eggleton plans to relaunch it as a luxury menswear label.

Mr Eggleton, a design consultant who has worked for British brands including Hackett and Aquascutum, bought the rights to the name last year from John Lewis.

He is now in talks with retailers to sell the collection with retail prices starting at £750 for a briefcase. The products will also be available online from the new year.

The leather brand had been bought by John Lewis after the Second World War and was sold within the group for a number of years. At its peak in the late 1800s it had three factories in London. Sir John Pound, the son of the founder, took over the business in the 1860s and was a famous philanthropist. He became Lord Mayor of London in 1904. Mr Eggleton has made contact with Sir John’s descendants and plans to remember his contribution to society by donating 10 per cent of profits to educational charities.

Mr Eggleton, who is funding the launch with his own money, is using a specialist leather factory in Turkey that has produced goods for Prada and Mulberry to make the products, with leather from Italy and fabric from Britain.