Long Way Home for Joe Richards

Sometimes it feels like you’re typing on autopilot when you’re doing bios of young London designers.  “xxx studied at Central Saint Martins/LCF/RCA and then interned at xxx, xxx and xxx in Paris, and subsequently cut their teeth at xxx before deciding to launch their label”.  I’m going to sound like a cheesy Chinese sage but leaves can blow in different directions and people’s paths do take different turns to get to their ultimate destination even if the journey ends up being a longer one.  Wow, remind me never to try and generate Insta-Inspo quotes.

On my last day in Bath, I met designer Joe Richards for breakfast because I didn’t make it to his showroom at the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House during London Fashion Week, from which editors and buyers emerged raving.  Richards currently lives in Bath, which has been his hometown since his early teens and commutes to London for production.  Not being based in London already piques your interest but upon further investigation, it turns out Richards has come a long way in getting to where he is now – a buzzed-about designer with ongoing support from MatchesFashion.com (they’ve stocked Richards right from the very start) – and it hasn’t always been easy.

From a young age, Richards would stage fashion shows, roping in school friends to model his creations.  As a fanatical fashion fan, he’d also write to the likes of Mario Testino, Sam Taylor-Wood and Tom Ford to invite them to come along.  “I met Alexandra Shulman in my showroom in Paris, and I told her I wrote these letters to her, and she did sort of remember them because she did reply and say things like ‘Good luck!’,” said Richards.  “And she said ‘Well look where you are now!’”

After studying his art foundation in his local college in Bath, Richards then set himself the target of getting to London to study at Central Saint Martins.  When rebuffed upon application, Richards turned to University of Westminster before deciding the course wasn’t for him.  “I don’t think I fitted into what they wanted because I had this romantic streak.”  At Westminster, Richards encountered Zowie Broach (formerly of Boudicca), who then introduced him to multi-disciplinary creative Marko Matysik.  “Going to the haute couture shows with Marko really changed my life,” said Richards.  “I was 20 and my marrow wasn’t formed.  I grew into it.  I feel so grateful to have seen all of that before fashion changed.”  That was a decade ago when the likes of Galliano, Gaultier and McQueen were still in their pomp and the pace of fashion hadn’t sped up to its current state.

He then moved to Paris to assist artist and photographer Katerina Jebb.  Richards has a knack for remembering minutiae.  He recalls the shade of lilac on the walls of her studio, where he’d help organise her projects and her collection of vintage clothing, which designers used as a source of inspiration.  “There’d be pieces of Saint Laurent that I had never seen before,” said Richards.  “She introduced me to designers I never knew about like Jacques Fath or Ted Lapidus.”  Jebb has become a sort of ongoing muse for Richards.  “She’s got the formula for what I love in clothes – a bit borrowed and old and put together in a way that feels personal to her.  Part English eclecticism and part Parisian aloofness.”

Why am I going into such detail about Richards’ pathway?  Because he’s a prime and demonstrative example of someone who has eschewed formal education in favour of experience – which most peeps in the industry will say is probably more valuable than anything else.  Before he was 19, Richards had already garnered internships at Burberry and Alexander McQueen before going on his Parisian jaunt.  After Jebb, he also gained insight with the world famous trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort, learning that trends could also be extraordinary in their own way.  “We would do abstract smelling sessions that would then lead to the design of a car interior.  It was next level.”  And then finally, Richards got his foot in the design door with a long running internship at Dior.  “They wouldn’t take me because I didn’t speak French but my persistence paid off and I ended up working in all the departments – embroidery, print, haute couture, baby, ski!”  And oddly, he then turned down a full-time job in Dior’s knitwear department to take on another internship at Lanvin.  The point?  To learn and absorb even more.  “I don’t know how I did it at the time.  I was only paid expenses and lived in an attic in Paris but somehow I made it work.  I did it for the love and I was learning so much!” 

Then came the fairytale mysterious phone call.  Phoebe Philo was putting her team together for Celine in London.  Richards was summoned to come up with a brand project in a day and with that, he got the job as assistant designer on the spot.  You would think the story should end right there.  The culmination of all of those experiences was that Richards swiftly realised he wanted to do his own thing.  And decamped back to Bath, taking on teaching and freelance work in the meantime, to regroup his thoughts on Joe Richards the brand.  “At Celine, I didn’t know who I was.  People thought I was mad and told me I should have stayed on at Dior or Celine,” said Richards.   “But I did have a realisation: ‘I’m from Bath and I want to be more honest about it.’” 

Two and a half years later and AW15 for Richards has gathered up even more speed this season with a showroom frequented by key editors and buyers.  After what felt like an epic breakfast where Richards had recounted his leftfield pathway into fashion, I took a look at his beautiful sketchbook.  The research phase of the collection is incredibly important for Richards as it’s where he finds the attitude for the season.  “I was inspired by the Monaco Princesses in the 1980’s – equestrian by day, couture by night. The look of wearing either stretch denim jodhpurs and a blouse or a hand painted dress worn with a chain belt or nothing – there was no middle ground this time… My aim was to make everything look and feel immediately desirable and direct.” 

The swiftness of a Tony Viramontes illustration was mirrored in Richards’ beautiful handwritten script (I have handwriting jealousy because mine is so terrible…).  “There’s something lovely and luxurious about handwriting something,” said Richards.  His love letters were printed over stretch lace, chiming in with the personalised touches of the hand in the season – Rei Kawakubo’s scrawled tattoos in Comme menswear, Raf Simons’ college lab coats and Christopher Kane’s lover’s lace derived from life drawing classes. 

Ditto for the ocelot spots that were hand painted to turn an animal print on its head.  They fall on high waisted trousers and t-shirts like iridescent oil slicks on wet streets.  Their racy metallic shades are also a reference to these fast living princesses, driving at night with reflections thrown around.  That ease which characterised Richards’ early collections still prevails in the simplicity of the silhouettes, which allows the rich textures to speak.  His penchant for clean lines is probably best seen in his latest S/S 15 collection, filled with djebella-esque tops and nautical inflected separates.  One of his signature pieces is a double fronted white shirt in over-washed cotton, named after Patti Smith because he handmade the first prototype to give to her when she played in Bath.

Next spring is looking even more exciting as Richards will be collaborating with William Morris and Co.  It will be the first time that a designer has been granted access to the 154 year old brand’s archive.  We may think we know William Morris and his seemingly ornate designs but having gone through the archives, Richards will probably have applied his nuanced eye to expose a different side to this famous aesthete for next season.

There’s more to young British designers than the ones that reside in the enclave of Shacklewell Lane.   And whilst London is still an ideal base to be, not everyone can necessarily afford it or be part of an aesthetic that defines the “cool” designers.  Richards is aware that he’s had a more than alternative route into fashion and now in the unlikely city of Bath, where the pace of life is such that you have time and space to think and create, his career as a designer can finally begin.  “I’m working in a slightly different way,” said Richards.  Being here gives my work a point of difference.  I’m moving slowly but that’s perhaps my point of view.”