The Studio Visit: Martine Rose

A list of our favourite things about MARTINE ROSE? Defying expectations, ignoring well-trodden paths and carving her own way within the industry (basically being a perennial nonconformist), reimagining male archetypes (lest we forget Rose subverting the bankers, bus drivers, mountaineers and of course, the ravers), not to mention being a stellar colourist. But our number one favourite thing? She takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. Now that’s impressive.

On why she’s a fashion designer…
I’ve always loved and been interested in clothes and it became a way for me to express myself and what I’m feeling.

On what’s so good about fashion…
Fashion is really important, culturally. It reflects the mood of the nation. You can express everything through how you dress and what you choose to wear.

On what she wanted to be growing up…
I’ve never really been an ambitious person. I didn’t have a sort of fantasy, I didn’t want to be a nurse or a vet... I thought maybe I wanted to work in television.

On how her background has influenced who she is today…
It’s everything. It’s who I am. It’s the very fabric of my being. It’s shaped me as a person. My heritage has had a huge influence - I’m half Jamaican, half English. I have a very big family on both sides. My mum is one of nine and my dad one of six siblings. I think my cousins were so important growing up for me, they had a massive influence on my life, and my siblings also.

On her designs…
Slightly undone. I’m interested in that tension between when you like something but you don’t really know why you like it. Or when you’re mashing two things together that shouldn’t go together. Awkward, I hope. I like when you don’t know straight away if you like it – I think that’s really interesting. It’s like people – you don’t know straight away if you like them but there’s something about them.

On creativity…
I think that everyone is creative, that it’s intrinsic to human nature to be creative. I think as children we’re taught to supress it. Children are endlessly creative and as we grow up we sought of lose it or we funnel ourselves into different ways. At the essence of everyone is a really creative spirit. It doesn’t have to be what you do, it’s how you think. It’s so broad, you don’t have to pick up a pen and draw to be creative.

On why it’s important now more than ever…
Because you need very little to be creative. It’s accessible to all, it’s ancient, it’s how we communicate with each other, it’s how we understand each other. I think at times when there are other powers taking control, at those kind of frightening dystopian times, that art and creativity are absolutely essential and binding.

On what drives her creativity…
People, fundamentally. I’m really interested in people and what they do and how they do it.

On her favourite place in the world…
Jamaica is a really special place, its vibrates on a different level for me.

On downtime…
I really, really love trawling around markets, I love it. Any market...fruit and veg - you never know how long they’re going to be about. I used to go to markets with my nan. There’s something special about markets for me, it reminds me of my childhood. They’re a bit wild and almost lawless. So many characters, you don’t know what you’re going to find there.

On who she most admires…
My mum and dad. Maybe being a mum has brought it into sharper focus - they’re so unbelievably selfless and continue to make massive sacrifices for their children.

On the AW18…
It was more of a character that I was exploring from AW14. He was a guy who likes to go out and about, go to clubs, is definitely in a scene, he’s into it. It was exploring all the facets of that guy.

On appealing to both men and women…
It wasn’t my intention. I did what I did and women responded to it; I didn’t set out to do pieces for women. I did pieces that I liked and the result was that women also liked it. I wouldn’t say what I do is unisex, it’s definitely menswear. I always have women’s pieces in my collections, the collections always really reflect me and what I’m in to.