Monsoon started life in a small store in London's Beauchamp Place back in 1973 after Peter Simon, the founder of the company, completed an epic road trip around Asia. During his journey, Peter was inspired by the indigenous crafts and exotic fashions which were to become the signature style of Monsoon from that point on. Our early collections were born from clothes made in Indian villages using vegetable dyes, hand-loomed cotton and block printing. Whilst we may have grown in to a global company, with over 1000 stores, we remain committed to our hand-crafted bohemian roots.
This is celebrated in the beautiful hand embroidery and embellishment that give many of our products that unique Monsoon look and feel. You may not know it, but those lovely finishes you see are age-old crafts, such as chikan work and zardosi embroidery, still practiced by artisans working from their homes and villages.
We are proud of our links with craftspeople and 'homeworkers' particuarly as this offers women, many of whom cannot work outside the home, the opportunity to make a living out of a craft related skill.
To help ensure safe working conditions and fair wages, we are working with suppliers and NGOs on projects to support craft communities. One example is our partnership with the Indian NGO, SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) to set up self-help groups and provide micro-finance, training and education for home-workers in North India. We are also an active member of the ETI's homeworker group, which has introduced training and monitoring for embroidery workers, again in India, as well as improved access to medical and social benefits.

Click here to see a short film about 'Our Roots', as told by our founder and Chairman, Peter Simon
To find out more about our work with the Ethical Trading Initiative, Click Here

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