In 1987, Susanne and Christoph Botschen opened Theresa, a womenswear boutique in central Munich with an instinct for designers the city hadn’t yet discovered. It was among the first retailers to bring Prada and Dolce & Gabbana to Munich and by the early 1990s it was championing Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Romeo Gigli and Helmut Lang.
In 2006, the Botschens built a website and changed the brand name to Mytheresa (they sold the business in 2014). Two decades later that website turns over close to €1bn a year, selling an edit of some 250 fashion brands and sitting at the centre of a group that last spring absorbed Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter and Yoox.
The Mytheresa shopfront in Munich’s luxury quarter © Dirk Bruniecki
The physical store has grown as well. In 2020, a menswear boutique opened next door to the original on Maffeistrasse, in the heart of the city’s luxury quarter, and now the interior of the 1,200sq m women’s shop has been reimagined by Italian architect Roberto Baciocchi. It unfolds across three distinctly designed floors: brown carpeting and travertine on the ground floor for shoes, bags and accessories; warm wood and mirrored fitting-room columns upstairs for ready-to-wear and fine jewellery; and a monochrome basement of illuminated columns and aluminium mesh dedicated to contemporary fashion. It stocks The Row, Alaïa, Phoebe Philo, Sacai, Toteme and Manolo Blahnik – all exclusive to the store in Munich – alongside Bottega Veneta, Khaite, Celine, Valentino, Gucci, Prada and Miu Miu.
