Contrarian. How else would you describe a man who left a good job in the city – working in New York during its shiny ’80s heyday no less – to set up a mail-order clothes company at a time when buying things that got delivered was considered a bit, well, joke-worthy? Or was he just lucky – right time, right place, right instinct?
Johnnie launched Boden with a hand-drawn catalogue featuring eight menswear styles he wanted in his own wardrobe (and wanted to order from his armchair). That was 1991, and back then, catalogues for stylish people who like stylish clothes weren’t really a ‘thing’ in Britain.