Talk:Monsoon Accessorize

Removed reference to net worth and Monsoon's alumni designers

The products mentioned here are generic, are from the 1970s, and are no longer available (horrendously unfashionable now!). So there are no products here that could be promoted.

That said, I’ve removed the mention of Harrods, because on second reading that did indeed sound like promotion, even though Harrods no longer sells Monsoon stuff and hasn’t done for years: there would be no point sending Monsoon shoppers there, and I really wasn’t trying to do so. Ditto Liberty and Miss Selfridge in the 1970s: neither sell Monsoon these days, so no promotion was intended, or could ever logically be intended. It was just historical detail - but it wasn’t central, so now removed.

Nearly all press coverage of Monsoon described the firm’s early products as "era-defining” (and they don’t mean the current era!). I was trying to get this across in a non-promotional way. I haven’t used any breathless commercial language such as “….only the finest silks” etc, It ’s all dry and factual, IMHO.

I’d agree that mentioning Queen Sofía of Spain and Begum Khan might seem a bit promotional, but, as with Harrods, they couldn’t be used for promotional purposes here - neither of those two would be used to sell mainstream fashion items now. However, their patronage shows that Peter Simon’s business was something of an It-destination in the Kings Road scene - as evidenced by these visits from fashionable royalty. Don’t forget, in the early 1970s Monsoon was not a high street chain - it was a small shop that would only later come to be seen as an era-defining store, like Malcolm McLaren’s Sex shop would be in the late 1970s. That curio might not be apparent from Monsoon’s present-day mass-market profile - and that is what I was trying to say, although perhaps it doesn’t belong on Wikipedia?

Perhaps some of the detail about Jane Seymour and James Bond can go into Peter Simon’s own page (I note there’s nothing on the Tesla page about Grimes and Elon Musk for example!) but the photoshoot mentioned was indeed the start of the brand - remember again it is being mentioned in the History section, and contains nothing you can buy now.

I’ve mentioned a few notable store openings, again in neutral language and saying only where they opened and when. The rate of store openings in the early days are, for a historical account of a global chain store, an easily-understood and commonly-used way to convey expansion (and its decline too, but we’ll get on to that!), but if Wikipedia prefers some other metric to show growth, I’d be pleased to use it.

BTW, the company didn’t release very much financial info prior to listing, but after listing it was obliged to do so, which is why there is more of it the subsequent sections.

"Following 12 successive years of profit growth” does sound a bit promotional, agreed, but it is plainly true, and sourced, so I’d be interested to learn what the precise objection is and I’ll add it to my knowledge. It’s certainly a very notable achievement - hardly any company achieves 12 straight years of growth - but it’s now been removed.

"alongside the launch of Monsoon Home" sounded promotional to my ears on second reading, so I’ve removed it.

"2011 saw a brand revamp that invoked the firm’s traditional ethnic clothing.” This is a bit dull and again seems promotional on second reading, now gone.

Deleted mention of daughter Zara’s involvement, but I’m really clutching at straws now - was this what you were objecting to? Anyway, it isn’t core, so now removed. Ditto "Monsoon fashion campaigns have been fronted by Yasmin Le Bon, Helena Christensen, Sophie Dahl, Poppy Delevingne, Elizabeth Hurley, Jodie Kidd, and Kate Upton.

The firm’s ethical trading dimension is not as well known as say the BodyShop’s , but it is in the same league, and that’s what was missing from the former version of the page. Regrettably, that older page has now been restored - it is very out of date and is maintaining a gap in the knowldege of anyone reading it.

A novice might easily confuse The Ethical Trading Initiative with just another greenwashing logo dreamt up yesterday, but the ETI is a mature organsiation (see member list) of some 20 years standing- and Monsoon was a founder member. Other members include everyone from the TUC to Christian Aid .The ETI intervenes on behalf of women in Asian supply chains; my thinking was that those interventions which originated from Monsoon seemed worthy of a mention on Monsoon’s page.

From a practical point of view, it is not easy to write about this company philanthropy without seeming promotional to some readers, since the whole point of philanthropy is to do good, and doing good clearly might confer a benefit on the sponsoring firm. But most shoppers don’t care very much about philanthropy, and the recipients of the philanthropy definitely do care, and corporate philanthropy is a subject worthy of Wikipedia. So how to write about it? Good examples would be v. welcome. Perhaps the objection here is that there simply too much detail, so I suggest creating a page about the Foundation itself and leaving the detail there - The Foundation is after all much larger than many other far less notable UK foundations on Wikipedia.

CVA Last weekend, and several months after I wrote my draft, The Sunday Times reported Monsoon is apparently struggling to avoid the closure of some of its shops and is trying to organise a CVA. We should mention that too. I was about to do so when my former edits were overturned, so I’ve added it here for comments

Hopefully you’ll see I’ve tried to meet your objections, and that the page is now a great deal more informative than the neglected and out-of date page which preceded it.

I would welcome comments on the following revision of the text:

Monsoon Accessorize Ltd.

Monsoon shop in Brompton Road, London
Company type	Private limited company
Industry	Retailing
Founded	Knightsbridge, 1973
Founder	Peter Simon
Headquarters	Notting Hill, London , United Kingdom
Area served	Global
Key people	Paul Allen CEO Peter Simon Executive Chairman
Products	Clothing, fashion accessories, homeware
Revenue	£424m (2017)[1]
Owner	Simon family trusts
Divisions	Monsoon Accessorize
Website	www.monsoon.co.uk www.accessorize.com www.monsoontrust.org

Monsoon Accessorize' is an international fashion retailer operating under the separate brands of Monsoon and Accessorize.^[2] In 2018 the company operated approximately 650 stores in 50 countries alongside a further 268 stores in the UK.^[3][4]

The company takes its name from its founder Peter Simon, who was born in Sri Lanka during a monsoon.^[5] The Monsoon brand first came to prominence in the 1970s and is best known for its ethnic-inspired clothing. Accessorize launched in 1984, selling fashion accessories such as jewellery and bags.

The firm is a founder member of the Ethical Trading Initiative. The firm donates some of its profits to the Monsoon Trust, a registered charity set up by Simon; the Trust supports underprivileged women and children who work in Monsoon's Asian supply chain.

Monsoon was started in London in 1973 by Peter Simon, following his experience on the 1970s hippie trail. Simon had noticed the colours and block-printed textiles worn by locals he met on an overland drive from London to Rajasthan, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Simon began importing kaftans and raj-style clothing to London, selling from a market stall in Portobello Market and capitalising on the 1970s fashion for ethnic clothing.^[6] The range included a "shoat coat", made from the wool of a goat crossed with a sheep (“shoat”), discovered by Simon on a trip to the Maltese island of Gozo.^[7] He sold the coats through Harrods and other premium outlets, in addition to his market stall.^[8][9]

The first Monsoon shop opened in Beauchamp Place in May 1973.^[6][10][11] In the mid-1970s the business shifted its business model from imports to production, beginning with Indian-style clothes in handblock prints, sold through retailers such as Liberty, Harrods and Miss Selfridge.^[12]

The first Accessorize shop opened in 1984, next door to Monsoon in Covent Garden.^[11] A second store opened two years later on London’s Carnaby Street.

In 1994 Simon founded the Monsoon Accessorize Trust, a registered charity to help under-privileged women and children in Asia.

Monsoon opened its first store in Ireland in September 1995. It was the chain’s 88th store and its 10th outside Britain.^[13]

Following 12 successive years of profit growth, the company was listed on the Stock Exchange in 1998 at a valuation of £352m and a placing price of £88.3m. Simon made £85 million from the float.^[14] He kept 74.6% of shares in private ownership, stating that his only reason for the flotation was to motivate staff with share-based rewards.^[15] The flotation price gave the shares a forward p/e ratio of approx 18. At the time of the flotation the group operated 282 shops in the UK and 28 overseas.^[16]

The company expanded its range to include children's wear and contemporary fashion pieces for 30+ adults, alongside its more traditional ethnic-oriented offer.^[8] 1999 saw a drop in profits but by the early 2000s trading had improved and the group largely beat the City’s forecast over the next five years.^[17]

In 2000 Monsoon expanded into the United States and Saudi Arabia, while Accessorize expanded into Turkey, South Africa and Japan. Pre-tax profits rose 13% to £23m for the year.^[18] In 2003 the shares fell after a profits warning, adding to Simon’s disenchantment with the City and with running a public company.^[19] That year pre-tax profits had grown 9pc to £17.7m, from 277 stores in the UK and 90 overseas.^[20][21][22] In November 2003, two Simon family investment vehicles moved to de-list the company from the FTSE and re-list on AIM, which brought the business under greater family control and with fewer reporting requirements. The structure of the deal was approved by the Takeover Panel but was criticised by minority shareholders, who wanted Simon to pay a premium for increasing his shareholding.

Significant expansion followed in the two years after moving to AIM, including a rise in pre-tax profits of 32% and the purchase of 47 Etam stores in 2005. Total turnover in the year to 2005 increased from £271.4m to £363.7m, with pre-tax profit rising by 20 per cent to £53.1m.^[23]

2006 saw the international arm of the business outperform the UK business for first time. International sales helped to increase turnover by 33% to £485m, while the UK business required debt funding for the first time in its history, owing to difficulties in assimilating the 47 Etam stores purchased the previous year. By the end of the year the firm had 402 stores in the UK and Ireland and 400 international stores.^[24][25]

After describing Monsoon's public listing as his “...biggest mistake”, in 2007 Simon paid £185 million for the shares needed to take the business off AIM and fully private again. His 424p per share offer was a 4% premium to the previous closing price. The deal bought out the 11% stake held by US hedge fund Polygon.^[26] At the time of going private, the firm operated 858 stores, including 453 outside the UK.^{[27][28][29][30][31][32]}

In 2007 Monsoon received the Queen's Award for International Trade.^[33]

In the first year of trading after de-listing, turnover increased by 5.3% to £710m, while operating profits grew 12% to £68m. The company opened 109 international stores and launched in six new countries; trading in UK stores remained flat. In 2010, the company announced its international trading had driven an eight-fold increase in profits, while operating from 575 international stores in 50 markets. That year saw expansion into China, Hong Kong and preparation for opening in North America and Latin America.^[34][35]

In the year to August 2010 pre-tax profits tripled to £98.2m, from £27.9m in 2009, with most of the revenue and sales growth coming from international operations. ^[36]

In 2012 the firm announced that it had become debt-free, after Simon settled a £200m loan taken out to pay for 2007’s privatisation.^[37] In the financial year to 25 August 2012 the company made an operating loss of £4m, compared to an operating profit of £60.1m in the previous year; group sales fell to £529 million.^[38] From early 2013 to February 2015, John Browett, former head of retail at Apple, was chief executive of the company.^[39][40] He was succeeded by Paul Allen.^[40] In February 2013 the Forum of Private Business criticised Monsoon for requiring all new suppliers to give a blanket rebate of up to 4% on all invoices as well as a further charge of up to 10% for early payment.^[41][42] The company returned to profitability in the following year: in the year to 31 August 2013 sales rose 4.3% to £552m and the company reported pre-tax profits of £18.1m.^[43][44][39] In the financial year to 30 August 2014, group sales fell almost 8% to £509 million, and pre-tax profits were £50m; the company announced that stores would be closed and costs cut.^[45]

In October 2015 Monsoon was fined £28,000 for failing to correctly calculate a deduction made from staff wages in respect of their clothing allowance, such that those staff were mistakenly paid less than the national minimum wage.^[46][47]

In 2016 the company reported net cash of £50m and no debt.^[48] In the year to August 2017 the company reported a rise in online turnover but a reduction in footfall in UK stores, with sales of £424m and a reduction in pre-tax losses to £10.4m. Ebitda rose 18% to £23.9 million.^[49]

From 2001 the firm was headquartered in an art deco-style, grade II-listed building in Paddington Basin, London, known locally as the Battleship because of its shape. It was designed by Paul Hamilton in 1969 for British Rail; Simon family interests purchased the property in a related party transaction.^[50]

In May 2019 The Sunday Times reported that Monsoon is in talks with its landlords for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) to lower rents on its store estate, in return for Simon injecting £34m into the company. ^[51]

Monsoon is a London-registered private limited company. The business operates through franchises, joint ventures and subsidiaries.^[3]

Under Allen, the firm is consolidating its global store portfolio, closing 141 stores from 2016 onwards and withdrawing from some international markets, including Singapore, South Korea and Venezuela.^[52] Allen has reinstated separate fasciae for the Monsoon and Accessorize brands, reversing Browett's strategy of combining the two into a single store.^[52] The firm is also seeking to open more kiosk-style outlets in public transit stations and concessions within department stores.^[53][54]

In 2009 the company moved to a building designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris in Notting Dale.^[55] The company's collection of some 300 works of modern and contemporary art is housed there.^[56][57] The building is part of Notting Hill Village, a Simon-family-funded mixed-use development in Notting Hill.^[58] The firm's head office is located close to the site of the Grenfell Tower fire; the firm was a match-funder for the Big Give's Grenfell fundraiser^[59]

Monsoon has sued rival retailers, including Primark, for copyright infringement on its designs.^[60]

In 1994 a registered charity, the Monsoon Accessorize Trust, was set up to help under-privileged women and children in Asia.^[56][61][62] Its partners include the Indian charity Seva Mandir, which works to keep girls in education and to provide access to antenatal care and inoculations. The Monsoon Trust also works with Sadhna, a charity that gives needle-workers access to bank accounts.^[63]

Monsoon is a founding member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), an alliance of companies, trade unions and voluntary organisations in support of workers who make consumer goods.^[64][65] The firm has a code of conduct based on the ETI standard, which aims to protect workers by setting minimum requirements on conditions, pay and employment rights.