First encounters
In conversation with UNA MULLALLY
GARRETT PITCHERowns the Indigo Cloth shop and agency on South William Street in Dublin 2 and is from Malahide, Dublin
‘I FIRST MET JAMES within the first few weeks of the store being open. He came in and was obsessing over a jacket. He became a regular customer and it evolved into going for a pint. We had similar interests and it went from the store to pints to hanging out.
“We’re kind of what you’d call the best of friends. We talk about all the work stuff but that translates into real everyday life. We’re there for each other through the pressures and strains of work, relationships, and real life.
“We’ve both gone through loads of stuff the last few years and we’ve been a support for each other. Whether that’s a pint of Guinness in Grogan’s or drinking whiskey in each other’s gaffs, that’s what we do.
“I was in his house at the weekend for a barbecue; he throws the best barbecues. He’s a great chef, so is his missus. An invite to his house is always a winner. He’s a very generous guy, generous with his time and generous in general.
“When I came out of college, I went to work for Irish Distillers and I suppose I have always been in marketing brand management. In terms of fashion, my first job was Pepe Jeans brand manager. At Talmarck I managed a portfolio of brands. Then I went travelling, knowing I was going to step up a store and an agency when I got back. I worked in a place called Edwards Imports in Australia, then I came back to Dublin to open the store. There’s always been that agency side to the business. I would have been brand manager with Lee jeans, we built the dublintown.iewebsite and manage Thread mag as well.
“When [James and I] talk, it’s kind of a funny one. Generally we plot to take over the world. If I’m honest, that’s what we do! We discuss the latest goings on, give each other advice on different projects we’re working on and come up with some pet projects of our own. We have very similar lifestyles. We’re both very into fashion; we’re Tumblr mates. We have similar interests in design, architecture, fashion, and we would have similar ideas on how agencies design themselves for the future.
“It’s about approaching the right brands, having a belief in the brands we work with, so we’d talk a lot about that, so it’s kind of all encompassing. I guess we talk about everything from what barbecue sauce to use, to how Twitter is changing stuff.
“He’s quite an inspiration to me too, because if you bounce an idea off him he’ll say ‘why don’t you make it the best you can?’
“One of his favourite sayings is ‘for every Friday night, there’s a Monday morning’, and that’s a motto we live by. You have to be there for your mates. If I picked up the phone, he’d be there in an instant. He and Róisín are one of those couples where you look at them and say ‘how cool are they?’
