Interview: Gordon Ritchie, The Reference Library
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Gordon Ritchie, I have just launched The Reference Library, a sunglasses label, with an exclusive Capsule collection for Mr. Porter. I also work as a consultant to other brands and I’m involved with publishing as well.
I first met you when you were at Kirk Originals. Can you tell us about your role there at the time?
I was Managing Director, as a consultant, at Kirk Originals for just under 3 years, where I turned the brand and business round completely. Their image was dreadful and they weren’t selling hardly anything. I approached them as I remembered that when it had launched it had been a very cool brand. It was under new ownership and had completely lost its way. I set in place a new strategy and we completely revamped the image, direction and the sunglasses. In less than 6 months we re-launched at London Fashion Week Men’s followed straight after by Pitti Uomo. Nick Wooster was our very first customer and Liam Gallagher wanted some. Then Mr. Porter came and saw us. We really caught peoples attention straight away, wrote orders with international stores and had the attention of great press and menswear writers.
Congratulations on the launch of The Reference Library! How did you come to start up The Reference Library?
My role at Kirk Originals had come to an end and speaking to Mr. Porter I mentioned I’d been thinking to do something on my own. This was on a Thursday. They said, well why don’t you come in on Tuesday and let us see what you have in mind. So I had the weekend basically to pull my thoughts together and create a concept for a new brand. It came together really naturally though and really quickly. It was almost like the idea was already there. It took a couple of days then to convince myself it was really going to be a strong enough concept to present. I took the presentation in on Tuesday and Mr. Porter were onboard giving me a platform to launch exclusively with them.
What is your vision for The Reference Library?
Inspired by classic strong images of musicians, movie actors and youths on the street, we create the coolest sunglasses. The ones you could never find.
In your opinion, what is required to make the ultimate pair of sunglasses?
First of all they have to fit and suit. The pitch is important, how they curve round your face (I see far too many “flat” glasses). They should be made of substantial natural acetate, hand finished with engaging angles, in a complementary colour for your skin but most important is the cool factor. When you put them on you want to feel like the coolest man in the world.
On a high level, what is the process of putting a seasonal collection together?
It’s a case of pulling images together. Not just of people wearing sunglasses but images that conjure up an atmosphere or a mood. Also pictures with good colour combinations too until a story begins to form around them. I’m always very focused on every piece working within the collection and it all fitting together. I’d rather present a small but very strong collection I completely believe in than try to guess what someone else might want.
What next for Gordon Ritchie?
Well, to keep building The Reference Library. We just finished making a film which will come out very soon - delayed due to lockdown. We also have some other exciting projects in the pipeline with an American brand that are very high profile right now and to see what happens. We had a pretty firm plan in place for The Reference Library but that’s had to be re-drawn completely due to the events of this year. As a consultant there is another potential “old” brand that want to re-launch I am talking to in a different product category which will be really good if I can get started on it soon and I’ll continue to help other brands that call on me.
You can follow Gordon’s journey on Instagram and at The Reference Library.