An apron that purports to be the first garment made by her when a teenager hangs in the dining room of the Llangoed Hall Hotel near Brecon in Powys.

Ashley's inspiration to start producing printed fabric came from a Women's Institute display of traditional handicrafts at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

When Ashley looked for small patches carrying Victorian designs to help her make patchworks, she found no such thing existed.

The scarves quickly became successful – retailing both via mail order and at high street chains such as John Lewis – and Bernard left his City job to print fabrics full-time.

The success of the business meant that the Ashleys could afford a yacht, a private plane, the French Château de Remaisnil in Picardy, Rhydoldog House, a mansion near Rhayader, Powys, Wales,[7][8][9] a town-house in Brussels, and the villa Contenta in Lyford Cay, New Providence, Bahamas.

[10][11] In 1985, just after her 60th birthday, Laura Ashley fell down the stairs of her daughter's home in the West Midlands and was taken to hospital in Coventry, where she died ten days later of a brain haemorrhage.

[4] A memorial plaque to Laura Ashley, at the family's former home 83 Cambridge Street, Pimlico was unveiled on 5 July 1994.