Monsoon Has Been Rescued From Administration This Week – Here’s Why The High Street Needs It

Long before Sienna Miller, before I could pop to Portobello Market, and before I graduated onto the hard stuff (clothes and trinkets picked up on actual, real life trips to various places), there was Monsoon. For a girl with burgeoning boho aspirations, but living in a distinctly un-hippified enclave of the Hampshire/West Sussex border (more preppy than peasant skirt), Monsoon was my soft gateway into a world of barefoot Talitha Getty glamour.

Founded by Peter Simon in 1973 with a store on Beauchamp Place, Monsoon and its sister brand Accessorize, have long-been favourites of the British high street thanks to their achievable – read: wearable – takes on the boho-luxe aesthetic (way before anyone ever uttered the words ‘boho-luxe’). Monsoon eschews the complicated frippery that can sometimes bog down this aesthetic in its purest bells-and-whistles manifestation, instead filtering the spirit into something more realistic: floral midi dresses, tasseled tops and embroidered knitwear that never appears too ‘gap year’ for an office or suburban get-together (though if you wanted to go full Sienna circa 2004, there was always a way: as a teen I would wear a tiered skirt yanked up as a dress and chunky Accessorize bangles pushed up to the top of my arms).

As a student I worked in several branches and, looking back, what impresses me most now is how Monsoon also arguably pre-empted the high-street’s savvy adoption of occassionwear: special pieces are attainable prices (Accessorize is also the home of the budget friendly pick-me-up; Kate Middleton wore a pair of the brand’s £5 earrings just last week).

What Monsoon got was that not all women want to drop six months’ salary on a wedding dress, or live off nothing but toast for the foreseeable in order to nab a nice prom/dinner/big event frock. I saw first-hand how special Monsoon dresses made these women feel. In my first year of university, I invited an exchange student from my halls to spend the holidays with my family. In that weird, baggy no man's land between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve we took her for a visit to Chichester. She was more interested in checking out the local Monsoon than the city’s famous cathedral and Roman walls. Witnessing her sheer delight in trying on the satin column gowns and swathes of chiffon still makes my cold heart swell with festive cheer today.

But, despite its charms, like so many of its contemporaries, Monsoon Accessorize reported this week that it was going into administration, a direct result of Covid-19 and the enforced closure of all 230 stores since mid-March. I hardly need tell you that, right now, the forecast on the high street is gloomy. Even before coronavirus shuttered shops and ravaged the economy, many of retail’s biggest and best loved names were in trouble. Since the UK has gone into lockdown, what already felt like an inevitability has been hurried along. In the past few weeks, Warehouse and Oasis have closed while Laura Ashley and Cath Kidston have gone into administration.

The good news for Monsoon Accessorize – and for us – is that it quickly bounced back out of administration having been acquired by Adena Brands Ltd, a company controlled by Simon (the terms of the deal include a £15 million cash injection from his own fortune). Although, unfortunately, some branches will close permanently, it’s hoped the deal can save up to 2,300 jobs and 100 stores. ‘This business has been my passion and my life, and I did not want to see it fall victim to this unprecedented crisis,’ said Simon in a statement. ‘We believe that fashion has a future on the high street, and we are prepared to commit time and money making it work’.

What I admire most about Monsoon is that it has continued to, on the whole, remain true to its aesthetic (yes it can sometimes veer into 'mother-of-the-bride' territory, but there are still some great endless-summer dresses to be found like the Betty tea dress and the Heshna midi dress). When so many other high street names don’t really stand for anything, apart from mimicking catwalk trends - with varying success - Monsoon’s trump card is to remain true to those boho roots. Does every piece work? No. But does it always look like Monsoon? Pretty much. When minimalism swept through the fashion world, bringing with it a sea of oversized shirts, box fresh sneakers and pared-back suiting, Monsoon continued to push its floaty dress agenda. You might not like it, you might not ever wear it, but you can to admire it for that.

With some of the high street’s best-loved brands struggling to assert their identity in the fight for survival, Monsoon continues to do things its own way. Here’s hoping it continues to do so – the high street needs stores with a point of view more than ever.

SHOP: 10 Of The Best Pieces To Buy From Monsoon