I’ve never been one to follow a script and I have enjoyed the freedom of forging my own path, which is harder to do when you’re part of a bigger machine.
Fashion designer Martine Rose
As admiration turned into collaboration, Rose worked on the outfits for Lamar’s performance at the Camp Flog Gnaw festival in 2023 — along with its highly sought after limited-run merchandise, which included a twisted football-inspired shirt, a top featuring Lamar’s handwritten lyrics, and even a long-sleeved top with the words “Martine Sardine,” a nod to the rapper’s Martine Rose namecheck rhyme in his collaborative hit with Baby Keem, “The Hillbillies.” But this year’s Super Bowl collaboration, which saw Lamar wear a custom leather Martine Rose varsity jacket that spelled out “Gloria” across its front before, more than 133 million viewers, took their relationship to new heights.
“When he approached us to work on the Super Bowl, I totally underestimated it,” Rose confessed, before breaking into a self-deprecating laugh. “But for me, it’s rarely about the final destination but the journey,” she added. Rose worked closely with Lamar to realize his vision. “I just love the fact that he (Lamar) gets it,” she explained excitedly. “Approaching an unbelievably important entertainment stage, to not only go out and put on a show for the people, but to use it as an opportunity to do something more impactful, to subvert it into something with a real message was so powerful — it’s a huge privilege to have been a part of it,” she added.
“It meant people that would ordinarily never look at us did, and it makes me smile to think of the people that saw Kendrick Lamar in our jacket (and) went onto our website to be met with models in prosthetic noses (a quirky feature of the brand’s Spring-Summer 2025 show), leaving them totally confused.” It’s clear Rose delights in challenging societal standards and expectations.
It’s also precisely why she loved Chalamet’s electric Lime bike red carpet moment back in January. Yes, it helped that the actor was wearing a custom Martine Rose suit (as he has done for numerous media junket appearances), but she “loved the sense of humor of this particular moment, a playfulness that dissolved what can so easily be so scripted.” For Rose, it’s a pleasure to dress anyone, but “it’s even nicer to dress people that bring something else, a sense of character and personality,” she said.
An anomaly in fashion
This sense of authenticity is at the heart of a brand Rose has built over two decades. Back in 2015, when she was working in bars and squatting in abandoned properties to support her brand, a surprise invitation came from Balenciaga to consult on its menswear collection — which Rose did for three years, until 2018. Working closely alongside the brand’s then-creative director Demna (who only goes by his first name), Rose introduced elevated versions of her signature styles to the French luxury house, such as cropped bomber jackets, oversized shoulders, drab tracksuits and suit jackets. Major collaborations with the likes of Nike, Clark’s and Supreme soon followed.
Working as a female fashion designer in an industry largely led by men, Rose is a rarity. Doing so while taking inspiration from her Jamaican-British heritage, rarer still. With the proportion of female creative directors in luxury fashion falling and under-representation of people of color in both creative and leadership positions, her creative resilience hasn’t gone unnoticed. Speculation was rife that Rose might become the new men’s designer of Louis Vuitton and later, Balenciaga (roles that ultimately went to Pharrell Williams and Pierpaolo Piccioli, respectively).
It’s gossip that Rose purposefully distances herself from. “I’m not on social media, so I miss a lot of the noise intentionally,” she confessed. “Occasionally, someone might corner me when I’m out and ask me about a position and, of course, it’s deeply flattering to have your name mentioned.”
For some designers, the dream is to work for a big luxury company while running their own label (see Jonathan Anderson designing for JW Anderson and Loewe, and most recently Dior). But Rose feels differently. “I’ve never been one to follow a script and I have enjoyed — and continue to enjoy — the freedom of forging my own path, which is harder to do when you’re part of a bigger machine,” she explained.
The moments when Rose feels unsure or questions herself, are also the moments when she knows she’s “in the right zone.” “I never want to remain in a safe space where I’m just pushing out greatest hits collections with pieces I know work. I want to design garments that make me feel something at least.”
Similarly, she wants the public to come away from her shows having felt something, “whether that’s hate or love, pull or repulsion,” she said. “Ultimately, you either get it or you don’t — and it’s ok if you don’t because we’re not for everyone.”
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