HISTORY OF RICH

by John Richmond - @officialjohnrichmond

Towards the end of 2000, my close friend Bryan Adams asked me if he could shoot the lookbook for the Richmond “X” collection.

I thought it could be fun; he’d bring something different to the party. As well as shooting the lookbook, I wanted to create a shot of the new “Baggy” jeans from the John Richmond collection—a risky, edgy, controversial image of a guy and a girl having “fun.”

But I knew it needed “something else” to make it memorable.
I thought of putting something across the arse of the jeans – one of my assistants actually suggested writing “ARSE”.

We tried “Richmond”, but it was too long. I shortened it to “RICH” and inadvertently created a double entendre. The first jeans was painted by hand and ironically wasn’t even in the collection. But it became the focus for the A/W collections, both Men’s and Women’s, that were a juxtaposition of sartorial ultra “classic” bespoke tailored jackets, suites and ties mixed with “destroyed” worn denim jeans.

As well as “RICH” I added more words – “Wanna Be Your Dog”, “Cool As Fuck”, “Pure”, “Trash”, “Whore”. Also, variations in the hand-sewn embellished crystal of “RICH”, “PlayStation” symbols, “Kylie”, and “Just Do It” were added.

This carried into the following year when I used the words of the “Seven Deadly Sins” paintings not only on denim but also on tailoring and knitwear.The next season, I changed all the “RICH” lettering to gothic gold embroidered on black felt patches. “RICH” took on a life of its own.

Copies could be found on many street corners and sold alongside Gucci and Prada. But as they say – “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness” – Oscar Wilde

MAKE IT 'RICH'

John Richmond is now channeling its iconic heritage into an exciting new chapter inviting a group of creatives, Davide Valalla, Agata Panucci, and LRP Laboratorio Riciclo Pelle, to reinterpret the iconic RICH logo.

MAKE IT RICH encourage also the fans of the brand to take part of the project inviting them to bring their own denim – regardless of brand – or selecting the jeans from the John Richmond collection to be customized.