Monsoon opens boutique store in Islington, more planned

It comes as the company has been expanding its boutique concept in recent months with openings in the kind of locations that are likely to embrace the concept, such as Bath, Edinburgh and Cambridge.

The new Upper Street store offers the label’s full womenswear range set against the backdrop of a converted pub with artisan wall hangings and other artworks.

London is a key focus for the label and back in May it opened a 50th anniversary vintage pop-up on the Portobello Road where the brand’s story first began.

Parent company Monsoon Accessorize had gone into administration in 2020 and was bought back by founder Peter Simon. That led to a raft of store closures for the Monsoon brand in particular, and at one point Simon talked of it becoming a digital-first brand with very few stores.

But the physical stores bounce-back post-pandemic and the new boutique concept have revived the appeal of the brand for in-person shopping and led to the current opening plan.

The company’s profits more than doubled in the year to August 2022 and it has revealed that like-for-like sales in its 50th anniversary year are up by 10% so far, while its boutique concept has been well received.

It has a more upscale feel than the firm’s previous Monsoon stores and the new location in Islington continues that with a focus on the brand’s craft story.

Between Monsoon and Accessorize there are now 23 London stores and four more are planned for the rest of this year. The next opening will be a beach season-focused travel store at Waterloo Station later this month.