Johnnie Boden
John Peter Boden CBE (born 1 June 1961) is an entrepreneur and founder of Boden, a catalogue clothing company, in 1991.[2]
Johnnie Boden | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Peter Boden[1] 1 June 1961 |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | Oriel College, Oxford |
| Notable work | Founder of Boden |
| Children | 3 |
Early life
John Peter Boden was born on 1 June 1961. His father[1] was a lieutenant colonel who changed careers to become a farmer.[1] John Boden was educated at Hawtreys preparatory school, and then Eton College, and read philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) at Oriel College, Oxford.[1]
Career
At 16, he edited the menswear section of the 1977 Harpers & Queen Teenage Edition, but Boden's father was "dismissive", calling it a "stupid job".[3]
After leaving university, Boden became a stockbroker with Barclays Merchant Bank,[3] and SG Warburg Securities.[4] spending some time at Wall Street.[1] He was a stockbroker for five years.[2] However, he "loathed" the job,[2] and was "ill-suited – really bad at it".[3] He ceased working as a stockbroker when he received an inheritance from a childless uncle.[3] He dabbled in other jobs, as a publican and teacher[3] in London.[1] Boden enjoyed teaching, though disliked the low salaries.[3]
Boden
He founded Boden in 1991,[2] launching his first catalogue featuring pictures drawn by a friend,[3] with eight menswear products available[2] modelled by his friends.[1] In 1992, Boden realised women were a better target for clothes, and launched women's clothing, followed by children's clothing,[2] under the name 'Mini Boden', in 1996.[3] However, it took "at least 10 years" for the finances to settle down due to robbery, and other circumstances; which ultimately led his inheritance to be gone in under three years.[3] The firm is known for its "bright prints".[2]
His foundation of Boden has enabled Boden to amass a personal fortune of £300mil (2014), placing him at 368 on the Sunday Times Rich List.[5]
The Bodens own around 60% of the shares in the company, a stake worth £281 million.[6]
Boden was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to fashion and the retail sector.[7]
Personal life
Boden is married to Sophie, with whom he has three daughters.[1]
References
- Burrell, Ian (8 November 2013). "Johnnie Boden: Anti-fashion for all the family". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - Hope, Katie (24 March 2014). "How Johnnie Boden came to dress the UK's yummy mummies". BBC. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- Hopper, David; Vallance, Charles (17 March 2013). "Johnnie Boden's fashion brand is the love of his life". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- Prynn, Jonathan (13 September 2010). "Go, Johnnie, go Boden is a £500m business success story". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- "The Sunday Times Rich List". The Sunday Times. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- Times, The Sunday. "Rich List 2020: profiles 304-399=, featuring Simon Cowell and Sir Elton John". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N9.