The company began in 1919 when Harry Hibbert and Oswald Buckland built a factory in Sutton-in-Ashfield, near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire.
[1] In 1926 they took over a hosiery wholesaling company that was previously owned by the daughter of a bookmaker who had gained financially from the racehorse Pretty Polly.
In 2005 when the company was owned by Sara Lee Courtaulds, production was moved from Unwin Road in Sutton in Ashfield to a 'state of the art' factory on Bridge Foot (A517) in Belper.
In May 2006, Sara Lee sold all of its lingerie brands to PD Enterprise, as part of a company known as Courtaulds Legwear.
In 1994 Laura Bailey modelled for the company, then in 1998, Eva Herzigová became the face (and legs) of Pretty Polly advertising.