Mark wears Garrett Leight California Optical Calabar sunglasses

Mark Gainor

Years connected to GLCO:
Day one - 10 years.

Occupation:
Designer

I met Garrett when he was an intern at Gourmet, and as Jon Buscemi likes to say: “That was when [Garrett] was wearing True Religion jeans and had a spiky haircut.” In the early days of GLCO, we actually rented an apartment on Abbot Kinney directly across from the store. I lived in one bedroom and the second bedroom was the lab. It made for some funny and awkward moments of cohabitation.

The story with the glasses was always going to be California – Garrett was really clear that the brand was going to be the people in his community, and his circle of friends. That’s a pretty vibrant toolbox to dip into; some of the most amazing and interesting people are here. Garrett being one of them, of course. That’s the interesting thing about knowing Garrett – from, you know, intern to power CEO, or whatever the fuck he is right now – he hasn’t really changed that much. He may have been the world's most arrogant intern and now he’s a semi humble CEO. He’s just stayed Garrett, you know?

Quote by Mark Gainor about Garrett Leight photo of Venice Beach, California