Our background

Formed in 1984, the original idea behind Principles was to give professional women great style, quality and value.

In October 2001 Principles was bought from Arcadia Group Plc to form part of a new company, Rubicon Retail Ltd. This worked so well that early in 2005 Principles was again bought, this time by the Shoe Studio Group.

Today Principles has 80 high street stores and over 230 concessions in leading department stores.

Principles now

Offering fantastic fashion, service and value, it’s our mission in life to be the best fashion brand for ‘30-something’ women.

As a business we’re all about people. All our people are proud of the brand and continually try to find ways to make the business even better. And we’re all passionate about creating the best possible fashion experience for our customers.

Our customers are confident women who like to look and feel good 24/7. As well as great quality and attention to detail, they want glamorous, versatile clothes that are a little bit different. And that’s just what they find in our collections, most of which come in sizes 8 to 20.

Our stores and service

Dedicated to giving you the best service on the high street, we want you to feel at home and inspired in every Principles store.

Our sales advisers are trained to give one-to-one styling advice in everything from dressing to flatter your body shape to wearing the latest trends. So whenever you need some expert and friendly advice, you can always call into one of our stores.

The Petite collection

We’ve always been known for our Petite collection, which is specially made to fit and flatter women of 5' 3" and under.

The secret of the collection’s success is that it’s not simply a scaled-down version of our main collection. From arm lengths to button sizes, everything is designed to be in perfect proportion to you.

Head office

Located in the shopping centre of London, our head office is just off Oxford Street on Rathbone Place.

Principles Retail Ltd
19-22 Rathbone Place
London W1T 1HY

Click here for directions