The Rose, Reimagined
To mark our 100th year, we invited a group of artists to reinterpret the rose. A symbol integral to our brand identity. From animators and photographers to sculptors and illustrators – meet the artists making the rose their own.
A hundred years is a long time to do anything. Long enough to know what matters – thoughtful design, lasting quality, an unwavering commitment to getting the details right.
A rose has always been part of our name. This year, we're handing it over. We're inviting a collection of artists to reinterpret the rose through their own lens – each bringing a distinct perspective, medium, and creative practice. The results are varied, unexpected, and deeply personal; a reflection of the individuality that craftsmanship allows.
Vincent Gapaillard
Photography, direction and floral art
For this interpretation, photographer and director Vincent Gapaillard joined forces with floral artist Lokzng, taking the rose apart in order to look at it in detail.
Vincent's approach used floral sculpture and embroidery to deconstruct the rose, pulling it into its component parts as a way of paying tribute to Derek Rose's long history of British craftsmanship. "I employed a diffusion surface to create a sophisticated atmosphere, and bespoke filters for the video, paying tribute to the brand's long-standing tradition of British excellence and distinctive style," he explains.
Together, the pair treated the rose less as a symbol to illustrate and more as a structure to examine – thread, form and light standing in for a century of pattern-cutting and needlework.
Rosa Sawyers
Animator, illustrator, designer
Rosa's practice sits between illustration and motion – looping, endlessly blooming scenes built from her own view of the world around her.
For her interpretation, she looked past the flower itself to where it's made. "Derek Rose operates an in-house silk studio at Victor Mill, where the brand still produces its garments today. I love the historic quality of these mills and the way they sit in the landscape – it connects the brand's heritage to its present work."
Flowers, for Rosa, are shorthand for everything she loves about nature: transient, seasonal, beautiful. Rather than depict a single bloom, she made hers endless – a rose that keeps flowering, inspired by its resilience through cold winters. It suited the looping animation she's known for, and gave her a way to speak to something less visual: the brand's longevity.
Simon Leclercq
Stop motion artist
Simon Leclercq, working under the name simon_stop_motion, brought the rose to life frame by frame – literally, out of the brand's own archive.
He built his rose from a patchwork of fabric samples pulled from the Derek Rose archive, colour and pattern doing the work petals usually do. Simple, distinct shapes, layered together, formed the flower – nothing about the construction was hidden.
"I love the idea that something no longer in use can be used to create something new and meaningful," he says. "This concept of transformation and birth is at the heart of the work." Katy Strutz assisted in building the rose itself, turning offcuts and sample swatches into a single, considered object.
Sainte Maria
Illustrator and artist
Sainte Maria works in a visual language built on line and colour – sketches and hand-painted detail that carry as much character as the finished piece.
For her interpretation, she turned to the product itself, reimagining a handful of Derek Rose's classic pyjamas, and one slipper, through her own eye. "I wanted to show how timeless pieces can naturally belong in different generations – just as easily in your grandfather's wardrobe as in yours," she explains.
The process mattered as much as the outcome: early sketches, hand-painted details and final illustrations all tracing the same idea taking shape – pieces built to be passed down, not just worn once.
Hanataba Original & Ingvar Strandh
Floral Artists
Hanataba Original is a family-run floral house from Sweden; this piece was made by hand by its founder, Ingvar Strandh, and shared with the series by his Granddaughter.
"There's something special about family businesses," they explain. "Watching my grandfather create this arrangement while wearing Derek Rose felt like bringing together two brands built on the same values – we're both family businesses that believe the best things take time, care and attention to detail."
Flowers stood in for the rose itself here – not as a replica, but as a symbol of craftsmanship, tradition and making things built to last. Every stem was placed with the same care the Rose family have brought to their own work over the past hundred years.
100 Years. A hundred pieces.
