John Richmond

John Richmond was born in Manchester in 1961 and later moved to London, where he completed his studies at Kingston University in 1982. He worked as a freelance designer for Emporio Armani, Fiorucci and Joseph Tricot before forming his first label, Richmond-Cornejo, a collaboration with designer Maria Cornejo, in 1984. In 1987 he struck out on his own and launched Destroy, a diffusion line consisting of t-shirts and jeans that came in at a far more affordable price range compared to his pricey mainline. The first collection was all about the more for way of thinking and the denim came in packs of eight with t-shirts and jackets that offered a different look to his popular, expensive leathers. Word got out to packs of cool kids across Britain and in no time, Destroy matched the John Richmond label in popularity.

The current collections are organised in two lines: the first line “John Richmond”, and the diffusion line “RICHMOND” containing both a pret a porter and denim range.

In 1995, John contacted Italian entrepreneur Saverio Moschillo with the possibility of expansion abroad. That year they solidified their firm friendship and began a professional partnership. Through Saverio Moschillo John was able to produce his collections at Falber Confezioni based in Forli, and use Moschillo’s global distribution network with showrooms across the world. The high quality of Falber’s production, the strength of the Moschillo showroom and staff, and above all the mutual respect and trust between the two partners are the key to the brand’s success.

Richmond's newest flagship store in London's Conduit Street joins two Italian shops in Milan and Bari. Then there's the Designers At Debenhams collection, the John Richmond Smart Roadster car -needless to say, a John Richmond fragrance and a childrenswear collection are also both in the pipeline.