Fletcher Jones

Sir David Fletcher Jones (14 August 189522 February 1977) was an Australian clothing manufacturer and retailer. He is considered a pioneer in workforce participation. It has been claimed that "Arguably, no single person or firm had done more to transform and, for a time, homogenize Australian dress standards, particularly among men, than Fletcher Jones and his staff."

Biography

Jones was born in Bendigo, Victoria, the son of a Cornish miner. In his childhood he had a stammer, but he practised reading aloud to manage this. and was made a Knight Bachelor in 1974 for services to decentralisation and the community.

Being located in a major wool producing area, Jones concentrated for many years on using the best local wool in its garments, and by the 1960s, was the largest Australian user of fine merino wool.

Although he had always expressed Labor sympathies in word and deed, he publicly renounced his political allegiances when the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his wife Margaret made it known they were agnostics. It is available from Film Australia.

In August 2018 an exhibition of 44 wood-relief art works by Warrnambool artist Glenn Morgan depicting the Fletcher Jones story was put on display at the restored Fletcher Jones factory in Warrnambool.

Australian author Jock Serong published in 2026 a book about the live and achievements of Jones, A Suitable Man – The Eccentric Empire of Fletcher Jones.

Fate of the business On 8 December 2011, the more than 40 Fletcher Jones stores were placed into administration. On 14 December, it was announced that 15 of the stores, including one at Warrnambool where the company started, would close immediately. The remaining 30 stores remained open.

In January 2026, the company announced it would close all remaining stores and its online store by the end of the month. Matthew Gowty, owner of Fletcher Jones, plans to sell the brand.