Louis Goldschmidt opened Midlands Hosiery Mills in Leicester in 1937, spotting a gap for finer-gauge socks at a time when most on the market were bulky and stiff; the company took the Pantherella name in 1945. The lighter, seamless construction caught on quickly with premium clothing stores through the 1940s, and the brand went on to export across Europe, North America and Australia. Burberry bought the company from Goldschmidt in 1990, and it became part of HJ Hall's group in 2001, with socks made in the original Leicester factory until it closed in 2024.