March 24, 2026 |
Fashion needs creatives – and creatives need champions. Mrs B, as Joan Burstein is affectionately known by the fashion industry, is the formidable founding force behind Browns, the London fashion boutique. Having reached another milestone, her 100th birthday, in February, 10 is celebrating how Mrs B restyled retail with her eye for fashion.
She officially retired in 2015, when Farfetch acquired Browns from her family, and a year later she celebrated her 90th birthday at Claridge’s, where past and present designers, friends and family gathered. She wore a piece by Karl Lagerfeld from the ’70s and is thinking of wearing the same one for her 100th. As The Telegraph wrote: “Joan Burstein – the only woman apart from Anna Wintour who sits front row at every catwalk show.”
The secret of her success? “I invested in people,” says Burstein of her legacy. That’s also her advice to new designers and talent hunters. Her aim at Browns? “I looked for talent and I believed in them. I got behind them, supported them all the way.” Of her favourite designers, “that is such a big question”, she says with a smile, as if being asked to choose a favourite child. “It depends on the day, but Dries Van Noten and Comme des Garçons. They’re two completely different designers, but both with their own point of view.” Designer brands with a point of view that she launched in the UK include Azzedine Alaïa, Jil Sander, Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Fendi (then designed by Lagerfeld), Lanvin, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Ann Demeulemeester. Browns was the first to sell them all in London. What happened with John Galliano, Hussein Chalayan and Christopher Kane is fashion legend, as like a real-life fairy godmother, Mrs B placed their graduate collections in the window of Browns – the fashion emporium she founded with her husband Sidney Burstein that, between 1970 and 2015, changed the face of modern fashion.
Fashion legend Joan Burstein, the founder of Browns, who celebrated her 100th birthday this year. Portrait by Joseph Koniak.
From Paris and London to Milan and New York, Mrs B left no stone unturned, going to countless appointments and graduate shows. In 1984, she was sat front row at Saint Martins and witnessed the graduate collection of John Galliano, Les Incroyables. Rather than simply applaud like everyone else, she went straight backstage to find the designer. “In the midst of the backstage chaos, Mrs B looked serene, and calmly told me to come and see them the next day,” Galliano told me. “Next morning, I arrived at Browns and she bought my entire graduate collection, then gave me the front of the shop and the window. A month later I was in business.” Mrs B knew. She can see potential, so before the internet and social media, she placed entire collections in the window of Browns, a powerful platform back then.
What sets her apart? “She had both vision and courage, and although fashion is a business, she always brought a sense of fun to it. She truly sparked a fire in everyone who worked for her and everyone who met her,” van Noten told me last year. “Mrs Burstein is truly one of a kind in the world of fashion, a visionary ahead of her time. She has an extraordinary ability to see the light in people and follows it with both heart and mind,” Chalayan told me. And another fashion legend weighed in, Suzy Menkes. “You need imagination and energy to get anywhere in fashion – and she had both. Mrs B was probably the first person to see fashion internationally.”
Joan Burstein (née Jotner) was born in 1926 to Jewish parents and grew up in North London. In 1943 she met Sidney Burstein, also a Londoner, and they married in 1945. “He was a market trader and I was working in a chemist’s shop,” she recalls. Together, Mr and Mrs B were a formidable team. In 1948, they opened their first store, a lingerie shop called Wilbuer, and went to open Neatawear, a high-street chain that was the Topshop of the 1950s and 1960s. Almost overnight, in 1968, it folded. “Retail is detail,” Mr B used to say, as the couple dusted themselves off and started again, this time with a high-end boutique selling their pick of international designers. “I wanted to do what no-one else had done,” says Mrs B, as back then London only had designer boutiques that sold a single label’s clothes (Dior, Yves Saint Laurent etc). Influenced by European style, the Bursteins opened Feathers on Kensington High Street, where Manolo Blahnik got his first job in fashion. He told me, “When I arrived [in London], it was six months of pure joy working for the Bursteins. I was young and they took me on just like that – no letters of recommendation – and got me a green card.”
“Look for individuality. That is number one and remains as true today as it did back then,” says Mrs B without hesitation when I ask what she looks for, how she spotted designers that had that spark. “Be focused on your objective. That is what I wish for young designers starting out – have a focus in mind. Of course, you can spot talent, but they have to know who they are designing for. That is the most important thing: if they can picture that, they can achieve it.”
Mrs B with Ralph Lauren – she opened his first store in London.
In 1970, the Bursteins moved from Kensington to Mayfair, opening Browns at 27 South Molton Street. It launched with brands including Missoni, Karl Lagerfeld for Chloé and Fendi. “Browns is perfection, it’s built with taste,” Blahnik told me. It was the curation, pieces and collections selected by Mrs B and her team of buyers that set it apart. The edit was where the magic happened. Mrs B could spot talent in brands and in the people she had in her team. Under her watchful eye, Browns became the launch pad for new designers, new talent, new ideas. “Buyers from overseas would come immediately to Browns to see who we had bought, and we tried to help everyone on their way,” she says with a smile. On one trip to New York, Mrs B sought out Calvin Klein over an evening in Studio 54 and asked if they could launch his brand in Europe. “Mrs Burstein is an absolute legend,” Klein says on the phone from New York. “Browns stood out from all the other stores and she changed my journey in Europe.”
“Mrs B had a really focused and strong vision of the woman she wanted to dress, and the close family of staff at Browns travelled the world to achieve and co-ordinate that goal,” says Robert Forrest, who was one of her uber buyers at Browns. “Mrs B and Mr B were a great team and gave us free rein to bring our viewpoint to the table. If we bought something and believed in it, we also had to be on the shop floor and make sure everything sold.”
The Bursteins were also entrepreneurial in their support of fashion. In 1981, Browns acquired the lease at 143 New Bond Street to launch Ralph Lauren in the UK. “I will never forget how [she] believed in me from the very beginning,” says Ralph Lauren. If a designer was hot they were in Browns, which most often launched their work. Romeo Gigli opened and created the interior for his shop within Browns and remembers, “Mrs B bought one of my first collections. At each of my shows she was one of the first [people to come] backstage to congratulate us.” Mrs B also brought Comme des Garçons to the UK and opened its first men and women’s shops, the minimal, stark premises designed by Rei Kawakubo. She also launched DKNY, the sporty line by Donna Karan.
Mrs B with Ralph Lauren – she opened his first store in London.
“I had a wonderful team,” she says with typical modesty. “Robert [Forrest], Françoise [Tessier] and Andrea [von Tiefenbach] were the key ones.” To those looking on with longing, from the back row to backstage, they were rock stars. They were who you wanted, who you needed, at your show. “Respected by everyone in the business, Mrs B has a true instinct and intuition about fashion,” says Nathalie Rykiel whose mother, Sonia, like the Missoni family, has been part of Browns since the early 1970s. In 2006, Mrs B was awarded a CBE for services to the fashion industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. In 2012, during Paris Fashion Week, she was given La Médaille de la Ville de Paris (Medal of the City of Paris). In 2014, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards and a Walpole Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016 she got a Drapers Independents Lifetime Achievement Award, the year she retired, aged 90.
Following the loss of her husband Sidney in 2010, her greatest legacy, she says, is her family: her daughter Caroline and son Simon, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She reflects on how much has changed and how much remains the same, and has a parting piece of advice.
“Look for the individual, their unique handwriting, and have courage.” Well said, Mrs B.
Mrs B with Anna Wintour
“Mrs Burstein, never Joan, was fabulously and fearlessly looking outwards at a time and from a place which were quite the opposite. Fashion, she always believed, should be a great adventure, and many of us were so happy to go on it with her.” Anna Wintour
“Missoni has been in business with Browns since the early days of the opening, and the Burstein family and the Missoni family have been loyal partners for 50 years! As far as I remember, in the autumn of 1970 Mrs B came to Florence to buy the spring/summer 1971 collection. It was a perfect match. Missoni was creating the most innovative fashion and Browns was the perfect window in London. Browns and Missoni’s businesses grew, amplifying their worldwide fashion relevance.” Angela Missoni
“Her strength as a retailer was her great taste and her incredible designer curation, which some saw as risk-taking and Mrs B saw as investing in talent. If we all tried to be a little bit more Mrs B, the world and our industry would be a better place.” Caroline Rush, former CEO of the British Fashion Council
Mrs B with her husband Sidney, son Simon and daughter Caroline, accepting her CBE for services to fashion in 2006
Christopher Kane
“I will never forget it when Mrs B walked into my small Paris showroom. Not only did she buy our first collection, she gave us support.” Christopher Kane
Colin McDowell
“No longer young but still beautiful, she is the centre of attention the minute she steps into the room, ushered in by the [hotel] manager. Some wonder if she is a minor royal; others read her delicate body language and carriage as proof that she was once a prima ballerina, or even an actress. But they are wrong. This is Joan Burstein, châtelaine of Browns, one of the most famous privately owned fashion stores in the world, which she set up over half a century ago with her husband, Sidney, and which she still presides over, both spiritually and physically.” Colin McDowell for a 2014 Business of Fashion profile on Mrs B
Mrs B with Diane von Furstenberg
Diane von Furstenberg
“Mrs B appeared in my life like a fairy godmother! When I relaunched my company in 1998, she was the first to push me and believe in me. We had huge successes together.” Diane von Furstenberg
David Downton
“I am not sure I’ve ever attempted to capture such inner light. Mrs B positively sparkled. Gracious, old school, somewhat nervous about being the subject of a drawing, she suggested a glass of rosé and the summer afternoon slipped away.” David Downton, artist-in-residence at Claridge’s
Alber Elbaz
“She supported all of us designers, but it was never done in a heavy way. It was never, ‘Oh,here comes the queen! It’s more like, here comes my aunt.’” Alber Elbaz, speaking in 2016
Donna Karan
“Joan created a dream retail community for me like no other… bringing designers to a family affair.” Donna Karan
Erdem Moralıoğlu
“Mrs B had this singular ability to see,really see, and appreciate a designer’s work,and support it with such authenticity. Her presence at a show and her support was a stamp of approval that resonated across the industry.” Erdem Moralıoğlu
Giorgio Armani
“She championed designers, many at the start of their careers, purely on her own instinct. In the fashion world, where many people follow trends instead of carving out their own path, this is not so easy. But she had a decisive way of buying, always highly curatorial, and had a determination to be herself with her pioneering vision, from which so many other designers and I benefited.” Giorgio Armani, speaking in 2024
Mrs B celebrating her 90th birthday in 2016 with Rifat Ozbek, Alber Elbaz and Manolo Blahnik
John Galliano
“She has that unfaltering eye for future talent.” John Galliano
Ralph Lauren
“I’ve always admired Joan’s vision, her talent, her style, and her personal manner. She had a unique eye and instinct for fashion that blended tradition and international newness. From the day I first met her, I knew that Joan Burstein was an authentic risk-taker. Forty years on, she still is.” Ralph Lauren, quoted in the 2010 book Browns: Forty Years of Fashion
Isaac Mizrahi
“Mrs Burstein represents a time in fashion that is difficult to explain, a time when fashion meant something other than big money. She used her eye, her taste, to build a mystique.It’s one of the great accomplishments of my life in fashion to have had a presence in her shop, to have been acknowledged in this way by Mrs Burstein.” Isaac Mizrahi
Mrs B with John Galliano at her 90th birthday
Nicholas Kirkwood
“Mrs B had a remarkable talent and passion for identifying and supporting the emerging designers of my generation. Browns’ influence was undeniably instrumental in helping us gain recognition on the world stage.” Nicholas Kirkwood
Norma Kamali
“Mrs B, is elegant, strong, kind, proud, smart, a visionary, mentor and supporter – perfection!” Norma Kamali
Manolo Blahnik
“Mrs Burstein has always been absolutely divine with me, and I have great affection for her. She is one of the last women with this instinct… what they pick is always exquisite and bought with an incredible, discerning eye and knowledge about fashion.” Manolo Blahnik
Mrs B with her son Simon and daughter Caroline
Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi
“At the beginning of our career, Browns was the pinnacle, so what a delight it was to meet Mrs B at our first London Fashion Week. Her warmth and encouragement was amazing. Being stocked at Browns opened many doors and introduced our brand to customers we have dressed throughout this journey. Mrs B is unique, the one and only.” Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi of Preen by Thornton Bregazzi
Rifat Ozbek
“It was important to be seen at Browns, especially when Mrs B put my clothes in their windows during London Fashion Week.” Rifat Ozbek
Roksanda Ilinčić
“I started selling at Browns after my first on-schedule show in 2005. It was a big moment and a big stamp of approval, as being stocked in Browns gave confidence to other buyers to commit to my brand.” Roksanda Ilinčić
Simone Rocha
“Mrs B always reminds me that she was at my MA show when I graduated and it was such an honour to become part of the store a few years later. She’s such an inspiration and a legend; she really supports and nurtures young designers.” Simone Rocha
Mrs B with the writer Camilla Morton
Stephen Jones
“Mrs B… Mrs Burstein, with Robert Forrest, were my guardian angels when I started almost 50 years ago. Her legendary boutique Browns was the first to stock my hats, inspired by Michael Roberts in Tatler. She was always supportive, gracious and made me feel part of her crew. I will also never forget being together at Buckingham Palace when she pushed me forward in front of her to meet Her Majesty the Queen! Long may she reign!” Stephen Jones
Suzy Menkes
“When Browns opened it was such a time of change – and Mrs B was part of that, at a time where there was an extraordinary shift and upsurge in fashion.” The equally legendary Suzy Menkes
Dame Zandra Rhodes
“Mrs B is single-handedly responsible for the creation of countless unforgettable fashion moments that span across so many generations of designers.” Dame Zandra Rhodes
Photography courtesy of Joan Burstein. Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 76 – CREATIVITY, CHANGE, FREEDOM – out NOW. Order your copy here.
Mrs B with Stefano Gabbana in 2013
