Christy

Christy is a British household linen manufacturer founded in 1850 in Droylsden, Lancashire, known as the inventor of the first industrially produced looped cotton terrycloth towel. The company's roots trace to 1833 when W M Christy & Sons was manufacturing cotton goods in Stockport. Founder Henry Christy discovered Turkish towelling while travelling in Istanbul, and employee Samuel Holt designed a machine to weave looped pile fabric industrially. Presenting at the Great Exhibition in 1851, they caught Queen Victoria's eye and became Purveyor to the Royal Household. Producing Wimbledon's official towels since 1987, Christy became a subsidiary of Welspun India in 2006, relocating headquarters to Stockport in 2012 while remaining a signifier of British luxury.