Swish back to 70s boho chic
As Monsoon raids its archive to create a new 50th birthday collection…Swish back to 70s boho chic
- Farrah Storr opens up about Monsoon’s legacy as it launches birthday collection
- She praises the High Street staple as it celebrates 50 years with its shoppers
- READ MORE: Fresh blow for Britain’s struggling high streets
Monsoon was at the height of its popularity in 1998 when I was a 20-year-old student hoping to look like Italian actress Anita Pallenberg for a year of travelling.
‘You need to go to Monsoon,’ advised a stylish friend of a friend with a wardrobe of block-printed maxi dresses with handkerchief hems and exquisite embroidered detailing. And that’s exactly what I did.
Then, Monsoon was unlike any other High Street store. We had just emerged from a decade of grunge.
So Monsoon, with its silk dresses, floaty trousers and paisley vest tops in every colour from pomegranate red to Mediterranean blue, felt different. Joyful, yet deeply bohemian.
And the good news is boho chic is back at Monsoon. To celebrate its 50th birthday, it has launched a 26-piece line, The Originals, inspired by its archives.
Dress, £350, monsoon. co.uk; hat, £200, heidiklein.com; mules, £95, dunelondon.com
This boasts hand-embroidered dresses in ochre, saffron-red peasant dresses with crotchet detailing; embroidered cloth bags the colour of an Istanbul sky.
Created by Peter Simon in 1973, Monsoon was born when he fell in love with the hand-crafted fashions he saw while travelling in India, Afghanistan and Iran.
Back in the UK, he began selling Afghan coats and dresses from Rajasthan at Portobello Road Market in London’s Notting Hill.
A year later he opened a shop in Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge.
Monsoon not only became synonymous with boho style, but was the place to find well-priced occasion wear.
Created by Peter Simon in 1973, Monsoon was born when he fell in love with the hand-crafted fashions he saw while travelling in India, Afghanistan and Iran
Dress £350, and bag, £45, both monsoon. co.uk; mules, as before
Monsoon not only became synonymous with boho style, but was the place to find well-priced occasion wear
Affordable bridal wear came next.
But then it started to fall a bit flat. The era of minimalist dressing did little for Monsoon’s fortunes.
People forgot clothing could be joyful. Until now. At a time when we couldn’t need joy more, Monsoon has it in spades.
This terracotta orange off-the-shoulder maxi (above) takes me back to travels in my youth and the rich purple, balloon-sleeved midi dress is just at home at the beach as in a restaurant.
These are clothes to have the best summer of your life in.
They’re also, as Monsoon has always done so well, clothes that work with every size and shape. Honestly, 50 never looked quite so good.
Source: Read Full Article