Aida Woolf

Aida Woolf (1886–1967) was a British dress designer and businesswoman.

Early life

Aida Woolf was born in Bow, London in 1886, the eldest of seven children of Emmanuel Woolf, a commercial traveller, and Sarah Woolf, a schoolteacher.^[1] In 1895, the family moved to Clapham, and stayed there until 1913.^[1]

Career

By 1923, Woolf had moved her dressmaking business to 283 Oxford Street, above the ABC Teashop.^[1]

In 1928, Woolf moved to new premises in Harewood Place, and in 1936 to 20 Grosvenor Street.^[1]

As a West End couturier, Woolf rivalled Reville and Rossiter.^[2]

Personal life

In 1914, she married Sydney Benjamin at the Central Synagogue, Great Portland Street.^[1]

Legacy

Two of her wedding dresses, from 1914 and 1923 are in the permanent collection of the V&A,^[3] including one made for Flora Diamond's wedding to Philip Jacobs at the Bayswater Synagogue in June 1923.^[2]