Gordon Ritchie has recently acquired the world-renowned clothing brand Crombie which originates from the North East- as does he. With its origins tracing back to the banks of the River Don, Crombie has etched its mark in history, from its inception in the 1800s to rubbing shoulders with The Beatles in the swinging '60s. Now, under the visionary leadership of Gordon Ritchie, Crombie is poised for its most monumental transformation yet.
A Gordon, could you share your journey from being a young boy in the North East to becoming the owner of one of its most distinguished brands?
G There's a really strong connection between where I am from to where I am now. I was born in Ayreshire and moved up to Aberdeen when I was 7 years old. I think the oil influence on Aberdeen brought a lot of people from different places so I had a great mix of friends, all of whom I'm still friends with now. Funny to think of it, I've always had a tie to this brand as my Mum used to bring me to the Crombie mill and take home some material and I'd sit and watch her cut it, and I'd watched my Dad and his 7 brothers all wearing Crombie coats too. Anyway, I started my career in a tailor shop and had no clue really what I wanted to do which led to me moving to London to pursue DJing. The inevitable happened after that of getting a mortgage and getting married, so I thought it was about time to get a real job. I began working with Joseph, a designer brand, where I had the opportunity to collaborate directly with Joseph himself. Then after deciding to delve deeper into the industry, I explored roles in wholesale. The turning point came when I saw the opportunity at Crombie who were looking for someone to build a wholesale business for them. I just thought that's the job for me. I totally went for it with the interview, did an entire presentation and after 20 minutes I got offered the job. Once my time at Crombie had piped down, my freelance career commenced and that basically takes us to today.
A It seems like things have come full circle for you really. What was your time like at Crombie, the first time around?
G So when I joined it felt like the company was going nowhere. I thought if I'm gonna be successful here I need to take charge. I got the design and marketing team motivated together because I just felt like I really knew what needed to happen, and no one stopped me. One of the best things about the job was the travel, myself and an assistant and that was us off around the world. After 6 months we had written orders with stores in over 22 countries so after that, it gave me some leeway to work with the design team to create summer collections, which was new to the brand. We were with over 35 countries, but Bergdorf's in New York was still being stubborn. I had also managed to convince the change in production at that time as it had moved from Aberdeen to China. I started calling everyone up saying we had to make this product in the UK, like, it is essential. We delivered the first batch of Crombie jackets made in the UK to Dover Street Market 6 months later. It wasn't me being a total nationalist, it wasn't a flag-waving thing but I did think it was important. And then on my last week, Bergdorf's called and said "Okay Gordon," but I was on my way out the door! There wasn't a lot of drive and ambition from the ownership at that time.
A Were you looking for Crombie or was Crombie looking for you?
G A bit of both really. It was actually another gentleman from Aberdeen who came to me, he's now my business partner. He said to me "Find a brand you want to buy and I'll raise the money for it" and I just thought, what a great offer! Crombie wasn't first on our list because it was kind of considered unbuyable. Then, I got a message from someone to say that the opportunity may actually be there. It was a very long process, but because I had worked there previously I think it seemed like I was a good pair of hands to pass the business into.
A Do we have a date for the relaunch?
G Unfortunately, I can’t say too much but we will be able to pencil in a date hopefully very soon.
A Is Crombie going to have a new face or are you focusing on embracing its heritage?
G It's very much about taking it back to its roots as brands can tend to lose their way. Everyone has their own ideas and things get diluted and diverted, so it's good to look back and see what worked and what didn’t. I'm of the opinion to look back to what gave the brand its essence in the first place and then figure out how that can live on in the contemporary world.
A And will it continue to be London-based?
G We'd like to make as much as we can in Scotland but there is limited capacity. It's important for us to make as much as we can in the UK because we want quality. I want to persevere with people to see what we can achieve in Scotland and get the quality I know they can give.
A Can we expect to see the Crombie coat making a comeback?
G I mean we have a demand for the classic Crombie coat but the company had narrowed down what this meant with the velvet collar, single-breasted, fly front. There's actually a whole stable of Crombie coats and they all got forgotten about so that’s something we're planning to push, the wider range of the classics. Obviously, it needs to be developed and brought up to date so I'd like to see us bringing through new iterations, maybe lighter weight, maybe incorporate more technical materials like Gore-Tex linings. I also think it's a blank canvas on the inside and the outside. The lining is a blank canvas for prints, colours, and collaborations and the outside of the coat is a blank canvas as well. There's so much we can do with it.
A You mention collaborations, is that something to look forward to?
G Yeah definitely. There are some incredible opportunities on the table and some of the names that are in these conversations are incredible, I can't quite believe it. Crombie has never done any official collaborations aside from other brands asking for the Crombie label on their garments.
A Why do you think Crombie was so sought after, is it all thanks to The Beatles?
G I think it's actually very deep-rooted in British and Scottish culture. John Crombie, on the River Don in Aberdeen, was really focused on quality when he first started. He brought weavers up from Yorkshire all just for the best quality cloth. He got on a horse to London and went to the royals and they were delighted with his cloth, very quickly it was then being made for them. In the 1800s, most clothes were made bespoke because there were no brands. The original was the Chesterfield coat design which then became the Crombie coat design because the Crombie cloth was the best for it. They started making labels for it so this then became a symbol made by the tailors, and a brand had formed. People started going to their tailors saying they wanted a Crombie coat, not necessarily knowing it was just the cloth. That label in itself became a mark of distinction. So the desire to have that label has developed over centuries. These Hollywood stars like Cary Grant and The Beatles wearing it then just became a status symbol, you know? It does feel like they were part of that continued legacy of encouraging this aspiration of owning one which became part of British culture through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It's gone from one youth movement to the next just to have the Crombie style and then one day afford a real one. I've had some very high net worths' tell me stories of running around as neds, aspiring to have a coat to now owning their first one.
A Do you have an ideal consumer in mind?
G I mean I think it's important that we come out upmarket. We want to start off where the company was before and it will probably be a bit more expensive because the world is more expensive. There are two sides to answer this question. Short term- we embrace what we once had. When I was at Crombie before we were developing proper luxury collections, we were selling leather trench coats, reversible leather jackets etc, as top quality. We are in the luxury market and want to keep our customers expecting that. But long term- it would be nice to launch a more accessible line at a more accessible price point, and maybe here focus on the collaborations. There is a huge swathe of people who can’t afford your top end but would love to have a genuine Crombie something, and this is where we are having talks with other brands. We know we can do it so it is important to aim there in the beginning.
A And Gordon, lastly, what part of your North East identity would you say has stuck with you throughout your career?
G It's almost just like, being social. I always think there's a Scottish thing about being able to speak to anyone, you know it’s not about putting people on pedestals. Someone once said to me "You wander 'round this industry saying hello to people, the same way I imagine you would walk down the high street in your home town," and I honestly think that's quite true! There's something about Scotland that keeps you grounded, you don’t get carried away. Anywhere you go there's a link to the North East and someone will always know someone. Maybe it's all the gas and granite holding us together.
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