Alice Marney shares insight into Monsoon Kids and the company’s strong heritage in ethical trading.

 

Laura Turner: How did Monsoon begin?

Alice Marney: Monsoon was founded by Peter Simon in 1973. During his travels around India, he was inspired by the unique craft and artisan communities and decided to bring some pieces to sell at a market stall on Portobello Road. Before long he had enough of a following to open a boutique in Knightsbridge. One of the first customers through the door was Jane Seymour, just on the cusp of James Bond fame. The brand became a trailblazing part of the 70s bohemian fashion scene.

LT: As Monsoon’s kidswear designer, what are your plans?

AM: I started in late 2023 to pull kidswear together as a whole cohesive vision. We were having success across lots of categories, but we wanted to make better sense as a brand, using trends and colour palettes cohesively across ranges as well as bringing in a red thread from ladieswear. We have really strong bestsellers which come back time and time again – and always will so long as people want them – yet we also want to find new and exciting things to offer our customer.

 

 

LT: How would you define Monsoon Kids’ design style?

AM: No one has the ‘twirl factor’ like Monsoon; we’re known for our full skirts and don’t skimp on silhouettes. Quality is built into our design process, from fabric selection, lining and fastenings to end use, which can vary from daytime, to holiday, to party. We’re proud to stay true to the print and pattern we’re known for, with many prints created by hand by our designers in London. We also have fun with trend-led pieces, such as this season’s resort shirts and co-ords.

LT: What do you offer in terms of ranges?

AM: Our main category is girl, aged 3-13. We also design for babies (with little sister matching outfits proving popular) and boys, and we have our Storm collection for older girls. Within that, we design partywear, including accessories for head-to-toe looks, holidaywear (including a wide selection of swimwear), casualwear and outerwear. We’re not afraid to lean into novelty, with beautiful Easter-themed prints, our bestselling Easter bunny bag that returns year after year, and matching pyjama sets at Christmas. Many customers find us as they seek out the perfect flower girl dress or something for their children to wear for First Communion, Christenings or Eid.

 

 

LT: As a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), how has Monsoon helped drive improvements?

AM: We were a founding member of the ETI and have supported fair working conditions within our supply chain. We have a continued commitment to using handcraft, which helps sustain skills and livelihoods as well as adding something special and unique to our collections. We have worked with some of our suppliers for more than 50 years. To protect them, we ensure our suppliers pay fair working rates and carry out extra monitoring to make sure our Code of Conduct is implemented as a basis of our trading relationship. Additionally, we have long-standing relationships with our suppliers, which are supported by regular visits by us as well as our in-country team, who support and ensure we work collaboratively to increase conditions. Since 1973, Monsoon has worked with craftspeople and homeworkers to create the unique hand-crafted Monsoon look and feel. Our early collections were born from clothes made in Indian villages using hand embroidery, block prints and local crafts. It’s always been an important part of who we are and what we do.

 

 

LT: You also have the Monsoon Accessorize Trust.

AM: The Trust has been running for more than 30 years. It was founded by Peter Simon to help support communities in the areas we work in. We support charities that work across health and education, particularly for women and children. It has raised more than £7 million over the years, which has been donated to more than 60 charities both close to home (such as the schools with pupils affected by the Grenfell fire and the Onside Youth Zone by our office, which does amazing work with young people), but also in the craft communities we work with, such as Turquoise Mountain and WaterAid.

LT: What’s next for Monsoon Kids?

AM: Short term, we want Monsoon Kids to be a ‘front of mind’ for a customer who wants quality, fun and a brand to grow up with over the years. We have just invested in more marketing, so you will see us popping up a lot more over the coming months. Long term, we have seen some brilliant success with design partnerships in ladieswear, so we’re pondering whether to use that model for kidswear too. We would also like to expand our Storm collection; we’ve seen success so far with our prom and holiday collections and think it’s a good challenge for us to work on.

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