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Monsoon has opened a new boutique store today (12 April) On London’s Marylebone High Street.
The store is part of a “refresh of Monsoon”, taking the brand “back to its roots”, and aims to celebrate its “heritage, craft and commitment to sustainability and ethical trade”.
The Marylebone High Street location is the first in a series of new boutiques for Monsoon, with over 30 planned in locations across the UK and Ireland.
While the store is designed as a showcase for the Monsoon brand and product, it will also “highlight and support the brand’s charitable work through The Monsoon Accessorize Trust”.
The brand said when the store opens, 10% of the first month’s profits will be donated to the trust, which “supports and empowers individuals from disadvantaged communities across Asia and helps drive sustainable change through a range of education, healthcare and income-generation projects”.
Monsoon was founded in 1973 by UK businessman Peter Simon. In May 2020 the group, which also owns sister brand Accessorize, fell into administration due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions – placing over 2000 jobs at risk.
In June, the stores were saved by Adena Brands – a company owned by founder Simon – and as part of the restructuring process 545 staff were made redundant and 35 of the shops in Moonsoon’s 181 store estate were closed.
Simon said: “We are tremendously excited to open our first new boutique store concept. This has been a difficult year for everyone, but difficult times can inspire creativity, and that has certainly been true for us: this store is a bold new expression of Monsoon, taking us back to our roots and celebrating the joy and colour that is so rich in our heritage.
“This project has been a bright light for us over the past year and represents all the energy and passion that we put into our product and shows the direction for the brand. We are committed to retail, the experience and joy it can bring, and are really excited to see stores reopen, to welcome our customers back and to introduce them to our new boutique.”
