Leicester

Leicester has made clothes since Tudor times. The hosiery industry established itself in 1640; by the mid-18th century, Leicestershire was England's chief center for hosiery manufacture. Knitting frames arrived by 1680—families rented machines from employers and worked at home, men operating frames while women seamed stockings and children wound yarn. The first steam-powered hosiery factory opened in 1851, and railways made the textiles portable.

Success bred ambition. By 1936, Leicester claimed to be the second-richest city in Europe, thanks to textile giants like N. Corah and Sons—once Europe's largest knitted fabric producer and a major supplier to Marks & Spencer. Wolsey and Byford joined the cluster. The city advertised that it 'clothes the world,' and hosiery jobs in the East Midlands rose from 50,000 in 1911 to 77,000 by 1939.

The textile industry's decline opened space for reinvention. The University of Leicester, which identified King Richard III's remains in a car park in 2012, houses Europe's largest academic center for space research. Over 60 years, the university has built equipment for more than 90 space missions, including the Mars Lander Beagle 2. Space Park Leicester—home to Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Maxar, and CGI—represents £100 million in investment and promises £750 million in economic contribution.

Leicester's diversity compounds the transformation. The city hosts the largest Diwali celebrations outside India along the Golden Mile. It's one of the UK's most diverse cities, with 20,000 university students from 150 countries. Research revealed 15,600 creative economy jobs—nearly three times official estimates.

By 2026, Leicester will test whether precision textiles can become precision aerospace. The same meticulous craftsmanship that once stitched stockings now builds satellite instruments. Richard III lost a kingdom here; the city found one in space.