Homegirl London pays homage to Corita Rose. This is a textile company owned by designer Caroline Ritchie and her husband Joshua. The business was launched after friends kept asking where they could buy the items Caroline had made for their home; when they realised there was a demand for the brightly coloured fabrics, they took the plunge and Corita Rose was born.
They make beautiful bespoke furniture, curtains, cushions, prints, wallpaper and lampshades. The emphasis is on designing and printing luxurious fabrics; velvet, silk and linen with vivid colours and strong imagery inspired by folklore and world cultures. Based in Dorset, everything is sourced, printed and handmade in the UK using natural products where possible. I caught up with Caroline to find out more …
Q: Tell me about your design background.
A: I studied Bath Spa University; Creative Arts BA and Design MA.
Q: Why set up your business?
A: We made everything for our house and when friends started asking us where they could buy the items, we decided to set up a business and sell what we made.
Q: Why call the company Corita Rose
A: I wanted the company to have its own life and a name that would reinforce the colours and designs and did not want it to carry my own very English name. I wanted a name that could travel the world. One of the artists I discovered and most admired during my degree was Sister Corita Kent. She was a nun and inspirational art teacher at The Immaculate Heart College in LA during the 1950s and 60s. She used graphic images, bright words and strong messages in her serigraphs. As an art teacher myself, I have often used her ‘Rules’ of the art room to inspire my own students. Wanting to use my initials I decided to use her first name and my second name, the name Corita Rose was born. By looking up Corita Rose on the web I also hope that people will come across Sister Corita Kent.
Corita Rose Cushions
Q: Where are you based and why?
A: Having worked from home in Dorset for a few years we are now very lucky to have a beautiful workshop in Shaftesbury which is a studio, workshop and showroom.
Q: How many people work at your company?
A: It’s mainly Josh and I but we also work with a team of local skilled upholsterers, seamstresses and cushion makers.
Q: Describe your design style.
A: Eclectic, folkloric and heraldic. Other people have called it; a Technicolor wonderland, a joyful blast of colour and heady.
Corita Rose Fabrics
Q: Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
A: Travels old and new, music, history, traditions and tribal heritage.
Q: Tell me about your collections.
A: Amor Range: Was conceived in Mexico, celebrating love of life with an explosion of colour on sofas, bed headboards, fabrics and cushions.
Corita Rose Amore Amigos Cushion
Corita Rose Love and Kisses Cushion
Float like a butterfly Sting like a bee: A commission to clothe a life size leather statue of a Boxer from the Festival of Britain led to a series collection of Butterfly and Bee fabrics in velvet and silk.
Corita Rose Butterfly Cushion
Corita Rose Bee Cushion
Q: What’s your fascination with folklore and heraldry?
A: The combination of graphic imagery and bold colour seems to cross so many cultures, from Yuruban chairs to Lithuanian paper cuts to English flags. In my work I love to juxtapose images from one culture with the colours from another. Sending ideas out and creating a mood without using words is really what it is about.
Q: Tell me about your bespoke service.
A: Couture upholstery is one element. I often design and print a different image for each area of a sofa or chair. Giving new life to much loved family pieces of furniture is also a speciality, so re-upholstering a customer’s pieces in new fabrics.
Corita Rose Amor Sofa
Corita Rose Grand Duke Armchair
Corita Rose Hoop and Star Chair
We also print to order so I often create and curtains and wall hangings that are printed to size.
Corita Rose Fortune Curtains
Q: Which designer do you admire and why?
A: Fornasetti, for his unstoppable flow of creativity and quirky nature. Also Josef Frank, for his rhythmic patterns and use of colour.
Q: What’s the best thing about owning your own business?
A: Being true to yourself and only making things that you believe in.
Q: What one piece of advice would you pass onto someone wanting to set up their own business?
A: Perhaps work for others first rather than plunging in straight from college or art school. When you have started up your own company keep talking to other designers and makers.
Q: What’s coming up for the rest of 2013?
A: A new collection called Knights and Roses.
Fabric prices range from £80 to £120 per metre. For more information on the company, to buy products and commission a bespoke project refer to www.coritarose.com. Credits: text by Homegirl London, images courtesy of Corita Rose, special thanks to Caroline Ritchie.
