Nat Peal founded N.Peal in 1936, with his first store in London’s Burlington Arcade. Peal’s real surname was “Leapman” which was later transposed into “Peal” – a more distinctly British name.

N.Peal opened its doors for business as a men’s haberdashery in March 1936, Nat was later stationed in the Shetland islands during the war 1939-1945 and he began sourcing woollen knitwear for the store from there. By the 1950s, he was hailed the British King of Cashmere and began visiting the East Coast of America. He would send out 18000 catalogues each year to customers on the mailing list and started to make more personal visits in the USA stating, “We reply to every letter by air mail, the very day it arrives”.

On his first trip to the USA, he was famously reported bringing a small zoo of animals with him; including a miniature alpaca, Vicuna, Cashmere goat and a Shetland goat. He used the animals as a guide to illustrate the quality and rarity of his products.