MARTINE ROSE

AFTER INITIALLY STUDYING SCULPTURE AT CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS, MARTINE ROSE SWITCHED TO MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY, WHERE SHE GRADUATED IN FASHION DESIGN IN 2002. THIS LONDON BASED DESIGNER WITH HER EPONYMOUS BRAND, CREATED IN 2007, HAS BECOME A MENSWEAR CULT FAVOURITE. HER EARLY COLLECTIONS WERE FOCUSED ON A SINGLE GARMENT CATEGORY - SHIRTS, AND FROM THERE, SHE HAS SINCE EXPANDED. WITH VERY LITTLE FINANCIAL BACKUP, WORKING WITH LOANS FROM THE PRINCE’S TRUST, SUPPORT, AND SPONSORSHIP FROM FASHION EAST AND THE BRITISH FASHION COUNCIL’S NEWGEN MEN AWARDS, MARTINE ROSE HAS MANAGED TO CHALLENGE THE FASHION INDUSTRY’S STATUS QUO SAYING, “I JUST FIND IT IMPORTANT TO GET PEOPLE TO THINK.”.

ROSE IS KNOWN FOR HER UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH, OFTEN PRESENTING COLLECTIONS OUTSIDE THE REGULAR FASHION SCHEDULE IN ORIGINAL AND UNEXPECTED VENUES LIKE THE SEVEN SISTERS INDOOR MARKET IN TOTTENHAM, LONDON.

EVEN THOUGH MARTINE ROSE IS A MENSWEAR LABEL, IT HAS AN EVER-GROWING FANBASE OF WOMEN WHO BUY APPROXIMATELY 30-40 PERCENT OF THE PRODUCTS. LOCALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY STOCKED, ROSE’S SUITING AND STREETWEAR CAN BE FOUND AT MATCHES FASHION, MACHINE-A, BARNEYS NEW YORK, AND SSENSE, WITH JERSEYS, T-SHIRTS, AND HOODIES AS ENTRY-POINT PIECES. THE BRAND IS INSPIRED BY THE RAVE AND REGGAE SCENES OF THE 1990S, AS WELL AS THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, DUE TO ROSE GROWING UP IN THE SOUTH LONDON MELTING POT OF SUBCULTURES. SHE SAID IN AN INTERVIEW, "I REMEMBER BEING VERY AWARE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER".

IN 2014 MARTINE ROSE WAS AWARDED THE NEWGEN MEN AWARD. IN 2017, SHE WAS NOMINATED FOR THE PRESTIGIOUS ANDAM PRIZE FOR EMERGING DESIGNERS AND SHORTLISTED FOR THE LVMH PRIZE, FOLLOWED BY A NOMINATION IN 2018 FOR THE BFC'S BRITISH DESIGNER OF THE YEAR FOR MENSWEAR.