With an emphasis on sustainability and craftsmanship, St. Roche fuses a modern approach with an effortless and season-less new school femininity. Working directly with skilled artisans and small family or women led, ethical manufacturers in India, Peru and LA, discover their beautifully handcrafted pieces exclusively in the closets of @clarysarah, @katjamieson_ and @m.g._style.
It's also important that the St. Roche customer feels they're wearing something special and good quality, and can feel the care that went into designing the garment.
- Sue Stemp, Founder of St. Roche
Sue Stemp of St. Roche shares how she arrives at each unique design, from starting points of inspiration to textile techniques that embrace the brand's sustainable mission from our interview with founder @suestemp.
Original and in-house embroidered designs are the starting point to each of your collections. How are you inspired to develop designs that establish something cohesive?
I always start with research, usually looking into something that's recently inspired me, and then I build a mood board with images and colour to start developing ideas for prints. I'm also looking at textile techniques I can implement that I feel will complement the silhouettes. The cohesion comes through my filter as a designer.
You're also committed to eco-friendly and ethically sourced textiles. How do these materials contribute to the relaxed and feminine ease of your brand aesthetic?
We only use natural and eco-friendly, low impact fabrics and yarns in our collections. Having a soft hand feel is very important to us. When we include artisanal handwork into a style, like hand embroidery, printing, dyeing or knitting, this also contributes to the textural quality and our relaxed aesthetic.
We only use natural and eco-friendly, low impact fabrics and yarns in our collections.
Share a special memory that inspired you to create.
Wherever I travel, I always love a good rummage around a flea market for vintage clothes and textiles. I've got many special memories of being in Portobello Market when I was a teenager living in London, or Clignancourt in Paris. I discovered a really great market a few summers ago just outside St. Tropez, where we found the most incredible Victorian trousseau filled with hand embroidered linens and lace, and it was so beautiful and inspiring.