“I’m demoralised about the landscape of fashion”: cult designer Martine Rose – The Guardian
Sat 10 Jun
As men’s fashion week gets underway in London, Martine Rose, a favourite of Drake and Kendrick Lamar, opens up about the lack of support for fashion designers in the UK and how her work references the ‘oppressed’, not the ‘oppressor’.
"I like to break the rules"
Martine Rose
Menswear trends such as track tops and weird trainers may are often attributed to a combination of social media, celebrity and kismet. But there’s another factor that links them: the designer Martine Rose.
The London-born 42-year-old might not be a household name like Ralph Lauren or Giorgio Armani, but she has a greater influence on what fashionable young men wear in 2023. Having designed menswear since 2007, she is an originator of some of the more outlandish trends ranging from gorpcore (hiking gear for people who don’t hike) to Justin Bieber’s wide-legged jeans. Her climbing collection and cult football shirt based on Liverpool’s 1992 strip are already five years old. Last year, a heeled version of Nike’s Shox sneakers – perhaps the weirdest of weird shoes – became the go-to trainer among the fashion crowd and sneakerheads alike.
Slowly but surely, her name is entering the wider world. She designed her version of Nike’s England replica shirt in 2021, in the run-up to the women’s Euros, and another project with the sportswear giant is coming this summer. Thanks, also, in part to having Drake model for a pandemic collection, Kendrick Lamar wearing her on tour last year and a new role as guest creative director for Clarks shoes for spring/summer 2024, her show will be the hottest ticket at this month’s London fashion week menswear shows.
Rose’s clothes have always been worn by both men and women. Hailey Bieber and Rihanna are fans, as is the artist Martine Syms, but Rose still calls herself a menswear designer. “I definitely don’t say genderless,” she says. “It’s so sexless.” She likes men wearing women’s clothes and vice versa, but says the parameters of men’s clothes appeal when she is designing. “This is not to make myself sound really cool, but I like to break the rules,” she says. “And there’s loads of rules of menswear.”