This year, Club Monaco turns 35 and as they enter their mid-thirties, the brand can’t help but reflect on where they have been and the influences that have shaped them along the way.
While they have certainly evolved and grown throughout the years, the things they have always valued—a strong sense of self, connection, community, and a spirited energy—remain the same. Follow along as they celebrate their roots and explore the modern expression of who Club is today.
“Everything is based on simplicity, but goes one step further.” –Alfred Sung, Club Monaco Co-Founder
It started with a swatch
At Club, it’s always been about the details — the texture, the form, the underlying ideas – that make things special.
It was one detail, a fabric called Monaco, that brought richness and ease to founder Alfred Sung and Joe Mimran’s first Club Monaco pieces.
That led to a quietly radical idea
This was before the days of fast fashion and capsule collections, before Instagram and endless choice. Joe Mimran found himself on the hunt for a perfect white button-down and coming up short. The need for a collection of well-designed essentials became clear—after all, it was hard to find a perfect black turtleneck, or a wide-leg cropped pant, or well-fitting tee.
So, with the true entrepreneurial spirit that still drives them today, Mimran partnered with co-founder Alfred Sung to build Club Monaco.
Powered by a few “great new ideas”, Sung and Mimran built a brand on what Vogue described as “basic fashion for the fashionable” —quality, modern essentials with longevity and ease, inspired by the details, and driven by the belief that style is more than clothes, and design isn’t defined by age or gender.
In 1985. That first Club Monaco store opened on Queen Street West in Toronto. Featuring a café and a design-led, residential feel, the store opened to lines around the block.
Today, Club Monaco celebrates 35 years of community, self-assured style, and entrepreneurship as they challenge themselves to move one step further and think about what’s next.
Since those early years, they made some changes, learned a few things, and did some growing up.
They built a new home in New York, broadened our collection, got a little lost along the way, then found their true style.
After 35 years they are proud of where they have been an excited about where they are going as they challenge themselves to move one-step further and embrace openness, individuality, and their community—The Club—more than ever.
Inspired by
The energy of their iconic black and white campaigns, the 35th Anniversary campaign nods to their past in celebration of their roots, and amplifies the things they have always valued as they look forward—a strong sense of self, connection and community, and a spirited energy.
Drawn to
The irreverence and casual coolness of their campaigns from the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, they were inspired to capture that energy and reinterpret it in a past-meets-present express of who Club is today.
Their Muses
To celebrate the 35th anniversary, Club Monaco partner with 11 makers & muses for shooting a local campaign. Club Monaco’s muse isn’t monolithic. Unconstrained by gender and age, they are at different moments in their lives, living in different places. But their approach to their lives, their style, and their passions unite them. Think about a person whose styles inspires. Their style probably feels familiar—only a shade braver, a silhouette bolder. They know themselves, their signatures, and where to play. This person inspires the brand, too. To dig deeper each season. To bring what they love into what they make, and into what you wear. Meet a few friends of theirs who continue to inspire them year after year, stay tuned for interviews on www.clubmonacohk.com
