Martine Rose: ‘Limits are good, but I like breaking the rules’

It’s quarter past two on a Thursday afternoon, and Martine Rose has the world’s most professional hangover. I say this because, while most midweek jollies are the product of bad decision making, Rose has just collaborated with Cuban rum brand Havana Club, and spent the previous evening launching her limited edition bottle with a gaggle of friends and family. Given the nature of the collaboration, it would be rude for her not to be hungover. “It was so fun. I think it felt like a family party, actually,” she tells me. “That was definitely the aim. There were lots of friends and family and industry people, but everyone was sort of mushed up together in this big celebration.”

Like all of her previous collaborations, this partnership with Havana Club has deep roots in the Martine Rose world. Rather than saying yes to anything that comes her way, Rose’s collaborations are a seamless extension of her brand, cultural signifiers that mean something to her community. Rose took on the role of guest creative director of Clarks in 2023, a firm fixture of Jamaican culture; her long-standing partnership with Nike trades on the brand’s importance to global youth culture; and this collaboration with Havana Club channels the freedom and joy you’d find at a Caribbean family party, where a bottle of rum is never too far out of reach.

But as well as having a party, the launch also doubled up as a fundraiser, where Rose and her team held a charity raffle to help those affected by Jamaica’s Hurricane Melissa. The prizes on offer were a combination of Havana Club goodies and Martine Rose products, including a gold gift bag made especially for the event. “I was in Jamaica this summer before the hurricane, and stayed in the area that was the worst affected,” Rose tells us. “The Havana event was always going to have a charitable element, and then, of course, the devastation of Hurricane Melissa happened and it just felt like that was the right thing to do. But it was wonderful. People are very generous.”

Below, we chat to Rose about the new collaboration, upending the idea of a fashion show, and the enduring importance of community.

Hey Martine – why did you want to join forces with Havana Club for this collaboration?

Martine Rose: With every collaboration, it’s about a conversation and it’s about a common thread. This one, it really made sense from the beginning for lots and lots of reasons. Obviously the Caribbean connection, and a sense of community building and celebration and joy, which is really easy to expand on. It’s really easy for that to be integrated into our world. So this was one that sort of made sense right from the beginning when it was on the table.

Can you tell me about the ideas behind the campaign for this collaboration? What sort of references and energy did you want to bring?

Martine Rose: It’s something that we’ve done before for my own brand, all different types of people dancing. For this collaboration in particular, that sense of joy and celebration felt like the right avenue to tap into. And so we knew we wanted to have this sort of fun and humour with it, and this lightness. So it was really easy to come to that conclusion.

When I look at the different collaborations you do – whether it’s Havana, Nike, Clarks, etc – you always manage to integrate them into the Martine Rose world. It doesn’t feel like a logo slapped on a bit of product. How important is that kind of worldbuilding, especially when working with another brand?

Martine Rose: I’m just not interested or motivated to just create products. It’s just not what I am ever inspired by. When I enter into collaborations, it’s always the relationship comes first, and it’s always a conversation about where it can go. We’re always really ambitious with our collaborations – it’s not just this sort of churning out. I mean, no one really needs more product. The magic of actually building something with a partner is so much more valuable. That is the spirit of a true collaboration. When you have that relationship with a partner and they trust you, they allow you to take them out of their comfort zone and go into places that they haven’t gone before.

Limits are really good. It’s what attracted me to menswear in the first place – Martine Rose

Did that happen with this Havana?

Martine Rose: Yeah, for sure. It’s interesting working with alcohol brands, because it is a whole different focus. And it’s very much a product, so you’re like, ‘OK, how can I communicate something in a very small area.’ If you’re talking specifically about redesigning a bottle label, there’s loads of stuff that you have to try and communicate on it. The joyfulness, the sense of celebration, all of that. You have a tiny square to do it in somehow. To do something that is pretty two-dimensional, and to somehow let that do all the talking – it’s really interesting. It’s challenging in a great way.

Did you find that limiting?

Martine Rose: Well, limits are really good. It’s what attracted me to menswear in the first place. Like there are limits to what men are going to wear. There are rules, and that’s what encourages these really creative solutions, usually. Taking it as far up to the line as you can without crossing it, because once you cross it, it breaks. It’s the same with having a very definite scale that you all need to work within. I actually like working in limits, believe it or not. But I also like breaking the rules.

You recently held a charity fundraiser which launched the Havana collab, but also raised vital funds for those affected by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. Can you tell us more about that?

Martine Rose: It’s so important. I was in Jamaica this summer before the hurricane, and stayed in the area that was the worst affected, St Elizabeth and Westmoreland, which was almost completely flattened by it. The Havana event was always going to have a charitable element, and then the devastation of Hurricane Melissa happened and it just felt like that was the right thing to do. But it was wonderful. People are very generous.

Bringing together a community is one of the things that your brand is best known for, despite how overused that word has become. How important is that word to Martine Rose?

Martine Rose: I mean, you’re right, it’s sort of overused now, so it almost feels like a bit of an eye-roll. Unfortunately, there isn’t a better word that can sum it up. So I have to keep using the bloody word, community, community, all the time. But I guess in the most authentic way, it’s just always been where our focus has been. I’m not interested in a lot of the other parts. I’ve always been interested and inspired by everyday things, everyday people, and the creative potential in everyone. So it wasn’t an intention. It’s not like when I started the brand, I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be really community focused.’ Not at all. It just always existed like that. I guess it’s become something that has become synonymous with the brand, but it’s just who we are.

And your last season was inspired by market stall traders. Was that a personal thing from growing up?

Martine Rose: I mean, I always feel sad that there just aren’t so many markets left for my kids to know. But for me, markets were a day out. Whether it’s going to food markets, clothes markets, stalls with my nan every weekend, the market callers at Kensington Market – it’s always been the backdrop of London life. They’re getting reduced, but it’s definitely worth celebrating the few that are still around.

That specific kind of London life isn’t represented that much in fashion – do you feel an obligation to be that voice?

Martine Rose: No, I don’t feel any obligations at all. It’s just what I’m interested in and always have been.

For that last show you also asked people not to be on their phones, too. What was the message behind that request?

Martine Rose: We’ve done it when we did the friends and family show [AW24]. It’s just really poignant for people to put their phones down and be present in the room. It just sort of shifts it a little bit. I want people to really look and be present, as opposed to be this observer. It was just inviting people, I guess, to think about. It really changes the atmosphere.

Trying to fit into this very narrow view of what fashion is, it just didn’t really apply to me – Martine Rose

I think in that way though, you have changed what a fashion show is seen as, or what a fashion show could be, especially in London. Was that an objective of yours?

Martine Rose: Again, it wasn’t an objective. None of this is really planned, like a master plan, at all. With me, it’s just been this process of discovery and confidence. Trying to fit into this very narrow view of what fashion is, and what a show is, being chic and all of that, it just didn’t really apply to me. The stuff that fit for me was this world building. I was preoccupied with the atmosphere, music, family, friends – all of that stuff that makes life rich. We’re preoccupied with how people feel when they come to our shows. We sit in different parts of the show beforehand, like, ‘how does it feel when you sit here? What’s your feeling if you’re in this room or in that room?’ We spend a lot of time doing all that stuff.

And finally, how are you feeling about 2026?

Martine Rose: I’m always an optimist. I am, for better or for worse, eternally optimistic. I’m eternally optimistic about people. I really believe in the best of people, and I really believe 2026 is going to be great.

Martine Rose x Havana Club is available now.