Johnnie Boden

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Johnnie Boden
CBE DL
Born
John Peter Boden [1]

(1961-06-01) 1 June 1961 (age 64)
NationalityEnglish
Education
Alma mater Oriel College, Oxford
Notable workFounder of Boden
Children3

John Peter Boden CBE DL (born 1 June 1961) is a British entrepreneur and founder of Boden, a catalogue clothing company, in 1991. [2]

Contents

Early life

John Peter Boden was born on 1 June 1961[ where? ]. 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]

In the 2014 Sunday Times Rich List, Boden placed 368th, with a personal fortune of £300 million. [5] As of the 2020 list, 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] In 2024, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Dorset. [8]

Personal life

Boden is married to Sophie, with whom he has three daughters: Anna, Katie and Stella. [1]

Boden has been linked to illegal fox hunting, and is a lifetime patron of the Portman Hunt [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hope, Katie (24 March 2014). "How Johnnie Boden came to dress the UK's yummy mummies". BBC. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hopper, David; Vallance, Charles (17 March 2013). "Johnnie Boden's fashion brand is the love of his life". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Prynn, Jonathan (13 September 2010). "Go, Johnnie, go Boden is a £500m business success story". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "The Sunday Times Rich List". The Sunday Times. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2014.[ dead link ]
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N9.
  8. ↑ "No. 64482". The London Gazette . 8 August 2024. p. 15306.
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