Fragrance house

Monsoon

Monsoon began with founder Peter Simon’s travels through Afghanistan and India. In 1973, he established a Portobello Road stall selling bohemian clothing with hand-crafted details, then opened the first Monsoon store in Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge, offering handblocked and hand-embroidered garments made with vegetable dyes and hand-loomed cottons and silks from villages around Jaipur. The brand’s creative identity brings traditional craftsmanship together with contemporary silhouettes, quality materials, and references to its 1970s influences, expressed through feminine, free-spirited dressing. The wider group expanded into accessories when Accessorize opened its first standalone store in Covent Garden in 1984, while the Monsoon Accessorize Trust, founded in 1994, supported education, healthcare, and income-generation projects. After Monsoon Accessorize entered administration in June 2020, Adena Brands acquired the brands and intellectual property through an administrator-led sale process; Adena was ultimately controlled by Simon. Following the restructuring, Monsoon retained its stated commitments to design flair, environmental standards, and ethical trading.