Some LifeBook authors have had brushes with royalty, but few can claim the title for themselves. Derek Rose, however, has been dubbed ‘the King of Pyjamas’ in recognition of his prestigious career in the world of fashion.
The Memoirs of Derek Rose, completed in September 2024, expands on his story beyond this accolade.
From Eastern Europe to a shirt factory
Derek’s life has been one of multitudes – of family dedication and innovation, music and laughter, hard work and hard-won rewards – and his book covers all this in vivid and joyful detail. It begins with a thoughtful reflection on how the world has changed since his prewar childhood, included so that the generations to come who will read his memoirs can more easily picture his stories. Alongside developments in cars, currency and lifestyle, for instance, Derek relates how an operator would connect phone calls from a telephone exchange, how he’d hand his bus tickets to a ‘clippy’ upon boarding and how the ice-cream man used to go around on a tricycle. It is a wonderful introduction that transports the reader to the Britain of 90 years ago and enables them to picture young Derek’s life as it was then.
The first chapter takes readers back in time to Plymouth, 1870, where Derek’s paternal grandparents came ashore after leaving Eastern Europe. Their stop was only meant to be a pause before carrying on to America, but Derek’s grandfather had their tickets stolen, so they had to disembark. They made their way to London, married at the East London Synagogue and went on to have four sons, among them Derek’s father, Jack, known as ‘Lou’.
After finding employment in an aircraft factory during the First World War, Lou went to work in a shirt factory. He met a cutter there, and together they started Bonsoir, a nightwear company. Lou married Rosa in 1922, in Hackney, and four children followed.
Le roi des pyjamas
Derek was born in 1932 in Margate, where the family happened to be on holiday at the time. In the same year, Lou changed the family name from Rosenberg to Rose.
Derek remembers a happy prewar childhood in Golders Green, with holidays in Bournemouth and plentiful school sports to keep him fit and healthy. His wartime memories, starting from age seven, are more vivid. Like many London children, Derek grew up regularly dashing to the family shelter attached to the house, and he remembers a barrage balloon on the green at the end of the road. He recalls seeing the “armada of Nazi planes” that “lit up the sky red” and a bomb hitting an East End warehouse that stored highly flammable molasses. An incendiary bomb hit the family home, fortunately falling through the roof of the garage – its only casualty the Roses’ car.
As a young man, Derek studied textiles at the Royal Technical College in Salford, in preparation for working at Bonsoir. After he graduated, he familiarised himself with every department and supported his father in leading the company. Around this time, Derek regularly went to charity dances that continued late into the night, and, as there were no coffee shops in London in those days, he and his friends would often head over to London Airport for breakfast and a hot drink afterwards. He and his sister, June, also took up flamenco-dancing classes in this period. The two of them became so good that they got together with friends to create a troupe for hire at functions!
Derek’s career and love of the arts coincided in 1953, when the first production of The Pyjama Game was brought to London’s West End. Bonsoir was tasked with providing the pyjamas, and Derek had to attend the show’s rehearsals to check that the garments were correct and fitted well. He recalls that the fabric they used was horrible, but the colours, patterns and designs were fabulous and deliberately outrageous enough to be seen throughout the theatre. Derek and his father were even invited to watch the opening-night performance from a box!
Around this time, Derek enjoyed taking trips to France, where he would visit casinos. He met a journalist there who was the first to dub him the ‘roi des pajamas’ – a nickname that was picked up by the Daily Mail, thereby making the accolade official!
Royal gatherings and royal nightwear
In 1966, Derek was made the chair of the British Menswear Guild (BMG). His first duty was to escort the Queen around the International Menswear Exhibition at Olympia. This was the first of several encounters with ‘fellow’ royals – he later met Princess Margaret, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and the Duke of Kent. The BMG position involved attending worldwide delegations and exhibitions, and the first of his two Queen’s Awards for Exports soon followed. (The second came 20 years later, thereby confirming his long reign over the industry!)
Derek at the British Menswear Guild Exhibition of 1966, showing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II a photograph of a pair of silk pyjamas selected by her father, King George VI, at the British Industries Fair of 1937
Ten years later, with Lou having sold Bonsoir by this time, Derek went into partnership with his brother-in-law and continued to produce excellent nightwear under the company name of ‘Derek Rose.’ The company went from strength to strength and continues to this day; Derek is still nominally the chairperson, and his children have since joined the fold.
In recent years, Derek has started an archive collection of historic nightwear. This impressive collection includes King Charles I’s nightshirt, Queen Victoria’s nightie, King George VI’s pink silk pyjamas (possibly used by the king on his 1947 visit to South Africa), Winston Churchill’s nightshirt, the Duke of Windsor’s dressing gown (in the colours of the Brigade of Guards and featuring repair jobs required after cigarette-burn holes appeared in the garment) and JFK’s night trousers! In Derek’s care, these special and unique items – each one a part of fashion history – have been preserved for another generation. Collectively, they ensure that Derek’s legacy as the King of Pyjamas lives on.
Written by Isabella Samuels, LifeBook Memoirs editor
