Style & Substance: Monique Davidson

Monique Davidson in the J&M Davidson store on Mount Street, Mayfair
Monique Davidson in the J&M Davidson store on Mount Street, Mayfair Credit: Alice Whitby

Monique Davidson founded accessories and ready-to-wear label J&M Davidson with her husband in London over 30 years ago. They have a store in Mayfair and enjoy consistent demand in Japan, where they develop many of their fabrics. Here she discusses her approach to design and her love of British style.

I met my husband John on holiday in Spain when I was 20 years old and I came with him to England for two weeks. At the time, I really felt in love with him, but my parents thought I was still in Spain, so I asked my friend to send postcards back to them week after week.

When I first moved to England we lived in Brighton, in a flat below the DJ Annie Nightingale. John used to photograph portraits of musicians when she interviewed them. I came from Lille in the north of France and felt a connection with England. My grandfather was in the textile business and he had a thread factory so he used to visit England a lot. My mother went to boarding school in Tunbridge Wells and that English influence was very fashionable at the time - we used to wear navy gabardine coats to school and a leather strap to hold our books.

Davidson in one of her signature cashmere sweaters
Davidson in one of her signature cashmere sweaters Credit: Alice Whitby

I love the eccentricity of the British. When an English woman is well-dressed, I absolutely love it, because well-dressed for me is eclectic, and it’s more artistic in a way - it’s individual, not like a uniform. I’m inspired by that sort of eccentricity in our collections; I like to be a bit funky. Classic can be funky if you make it differently.

I like jeans and trousers and wear a lot of our high-waisted, wide-leg jeans with turn-ups. I’ll wear a lot of mohair sweaters in the winter because they are so warm and comfortable. I like to be comfortable: I always want to be at ease and not restricted. I don’t want the clothes to wear me, I want to wear the clothes. I try to wear small heels, not too high, but mostly I tend to wear flat shoes.

A photo of a twenty-something Davidson alongside some of her favourite art books
A photo of a 20-something Davidson alongside some of her favourite art books Credit: Alice Whitby

I tend to design for myself because when you design, you’ll never create something you don’t like. Even if it’s something commercial, if I don’t like it I just can’t do it. I’m not going to do things people can’t wear. I like authentic things, for them to be real, like when you have a closure - I want the buckle to be a real buckle, not to have a magnet. I like to put pockets on something, but not a fake pocket.

I feel that our bags and clothes are really timeless; I don’t like to do things that the next season you don’t wear, I think that is sad. In 33 years we have had many bags, but how many shapes can you do? We do new shapes of course, but we’re always going through our archives, changing, re-vamping, modernising.

Left: Davidson's Daisy bag in metallic gold leather
Left: Davidson's Daisy bag in metallic gold leather Credit: Alice Whitby

John and I travel a lot for business. We got to factories and exhibitions for leather and fabric in Italy and France, and Japan twice a year as we develop a lot of our fabrics there. We used to go to parts of America in the 1970s that nobody at the time went to, like Wyoming and Montana and a little pueblo called Taos. It was exactly like in Western films. We’d go to a coffee shop and we’d see the guy in dungarees and his old cowboy boots. At the time we were crazy about Navarro rugs and turquoise jewellery and anything to do with Indians. We used to come back with carpets and moccasins and all sorts. I still have them - the problem with me is that I keep everything.

Monique Davidson
Monique Davidson Credit: Alice Whitby
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