Heritage
A house, in its own words
The company traces its roots to a modest basement in Amsterdam around the year 2000, where a group of friends gathered around a shared idea: everyday routines could become meaningful ceremonies. Raymond Cloosterman, a former marketing executive, turned that notion into a business plan and opened the first shop on Amsterdam’s Spui square in 2005. The storefront, housed in a historic building, displayed simple wooden shelves and soft lighting, reinforcing the brand’s focus on calm over flash. Over the next decade the concept spread across Europe, reaching the United Kingdom, Germany and France. By 2010 Rituals entered the Asian market, first with a flagship in Hong Kong, then expanding to Japan and South Korea, where the emphasis on mindfulness resonated with local consumers. In 2015 the brand launched its dedicated perfume line, adding scented candles and body products that carried the same ritual‑centric narrative. Notable releases include No. 17 Vetiver & Bergamot (2013), a nod to classic green accords, and the 2021 Majestic Iris, which paired iris absolute with subtle musk. The most recent addition, 47 Ag Silver (2024), explores metallic notes blended with soft florals, showing the brand’s willingness to experiment within its ritual framework. Throughout its growth, Rituals has kept a single headquarters in Amsterdam, while its product development teams work from studios in the Netherlands and a research hub in Shanghai that focuses on sustainable ingredient sourcing. Rituals treats scent as a conduit for intention. The brand’s creative brief asks perfumers to imagine a moment – a sunrise stretch, a tea ceremony, a quiet walk – and then translate that feeling into aroma. This approach stems from the founders’ belief that modern life often rushes past the small pauses that give meaning. Sustainability is woven into the philosophy; ingredients are selected for their ecological footprint, and many raw materials come from certified farms in France, Morocco and Indonesia. Transparency is another pillar: product labels list the proportion of natural versus synthetic components, and the company publishes an annual sustainability report. Community engagement appears in the form of workshops that teach customers how to layer scents, encouraging a personal narrative rather than a one‑size‑fits‑all fragrance. The brand also partners with cultural institutions to celebrate traditional crafts, such as a 2022 collaboration with a Japanese tea‑house that inspired the Ritual of Jing Hair & Body Mist.
