About Sylvia Young
Sylvia Young started Beau Monde in 1987 after a fruitless Saturday shopping trip. On Sunday she woke up knowing she should open a shop.
After initially selling clothes by young designers, Sylvia incorporated
her own designs with such success that 99% of the items in the shop are
now hers.
Self-taught by a lifetime spent around fashion wearing it,
styling it, and selling it, it was natural for Sylvia to move into
designing and making fashion.
"My designs are for women like me, business women, working
mothers, busy people with no time to shop around. A typical customer
will fly in on the way to a meeting, needing to pick up the garment on
the way home, all the time juggling children, nannies and heavy social
diaries. More and more these days women are breadwinners and carers,
with demanding schedules and no time for themselves. They can stop here
for a moment and be pampered.
After 18 years in Lexington Street Beau Monde has now
moved up in every way. Sylvia has taken the first floor of number 20 Kingly
Street (just a few streets away from the shop) to meet the increasing demand for
her made to measure service.
"We still carry
stock and change the range from season to season, but the made to order aspect
has grown so much I felt we didn't need an open door onto the street anymore.
I'm now dressing the next generation, children of customers I've been selling
to for years"
Due to the
demand it is a good idea to make an appointment. The hours are the same and the
fabrics as amazing as ever, but the customer now has more space to spread out
and take a break from the bustle below.
