Ventnor is blessed with many independent retailers such as Lesley’s Nutshell, Blue Labelle, Luchelle and The Athanor.
Near the end of 2022 saw some changes on Church Street, as Roake Studio – who’d previously been based in another location in the town – moved into their new premises (the former KU jewellery and gallery space).
What is Roake?
Responding to women’s ever-changing bodies and needs, Roake Studio handmake considered, small batch womenswear and accessories.
The business began by selling online and although the new premises is predominantly used for making and distributing, its doors were open on Saturdays in the run up to Christmas for retail sales
Chatting with Roake’s founder
News OnTheWight have been keen followers of Roake Studio on Instagram for some time, so were thrilled to catch some time with its founder, Rosie Drake-Knight, over a coffee at Ventnor Exchange just before Christmas.
We learnt more about Rosie’s creative journey, from growing up on the Island, heading off for university, finding her feet in the world of work, teaching, to finally coming home and setting up what has become a successful business, providing fantastic opportunities for several young Islanders.
In the beginning
Although academic at school, Rosie was also very creative, and encouraged by her art teacher from school, she set off for Plymouth to take her foundation year, sealing in the process, Rosie’s love of working with textiles.
Already a keen dressmaker – all learnt from her inspirational mother (more on her later) – Rosie secured a place at Falmouth University in Fashion and Textile Design specialising in mixed media, embroidery, screen beading and screen printing.
She said,
“I knew pretty quickly when at Uni that I didn’t want to do what they told me I should in terms of my career. The selling point of Falmouth’s textile degree is that they have an 80 per cent employment rate at the end of the course.
“So everyone goes there to get a job in the industry, but that’s not what I wanted in terms of being employed by someone, or being employed by a studio selling samples on my behalf.”
“Doing my own thing, as usual”
Rosie said she found that many of her tutors “switched off a little bit”, so she decided to just do her own thing,
“I ticked off the grading matrix in order, did what they said I had to do to get my degree, but everything else I did for enjoyment and to learn.”
Pre-incubation award
Securing a pre-incubation award with a lump sum of money and mentoring for the first year after completing her degree, Rosie said that at that point she really wanted to come home to the Island, but knew that the only types of work she’d be able to find would be in a supermarket or something similar.
“I was young and thought surely there’s something else I can do or learn before I go back home.”
Tragedy and crossroads
Rosie used the pre-incubation award money to buy a sewing machine and some printing equipment, as well as taking various evening classes, but then she reached a crossroads in her life.
The tragedy of her Mum becoming seriously ill and passing away five weeks later led to Rosie sorting through all of her Mum’s sewing and creative belongings.
She explained,
“Mum was so talented, an amazing knitter, dressmaker, baker, she had all the practical skills and I felt like I’d maybe be letting her down a bit by not utilising those things.
“I knew I wanted to have a career doing that, but nobody could provide it for me and I just thought, ‘I’m going to have to make it for myself’.”
Started making again
Just 23-years-old, Rosie then took all her Mum’s stuff back to Plymouth, where she was living with her boyfriend (now husband) and working as a graphic designer.
“We were living in a tiny studio flat and I filled it with all her stuff, including a large spinning wheel!
“I slowly started going through all Mum’s stuff, donated some bits, kept others and started making again.”
Turned to teaching
Switching to part time in her graphic design job, Rosie got a teaching role at the Art College running the textile apprenticeships, teaching the practical skills and boosting Rosie’s own confidence in the process.
After a while she was able to ditch the graphic design job, focus on teaching one day a week and doing her own work the rest of the week, simplifying the leather goods that she had been making over the previous years so they were more commercially viable.
She said,
“I can remember really clearly the first week of having my online shop open.
“I’d sold four purses which was really exciting, we went to the pub to celebrate the memory has stuck with me.”
“I feel her with me when I’m making”
It was the incredibly valuable skills that Rosie’s Mum had taught her growing up, along with her determined creative spirit, that helped Rosie when the right opportunities came along.
She explained,
“If I didn’t do something with them, it felt like that element of her, which was a huge part of her, her creativity, I thought ‘where’s that going to go?’
“I don’t want that to go anywhere, that’s really special to me. Even now I feel her with me when I’m making.”
Working from home, Rosie continued selling and making her leather goods, now screen printing on the leather to add texture.
“I was feeling really creative and it was getting busier and I was picking up wholesalers and learning a lot along the way, and then I got pregnant.”
Frustration with maternity clothes
By this time Rosie was working in the Business Team at the Art College running the evening classes and was able to take a couple of months maternity leave.
“I was getting really frustrated at the time with maternity clothes, because I just hate the concept of buying something to wear for nine months then throwing it away.
“It’s stupid and unnecessary, so I made my whole maternity wardrobe, a jumpsuit, a dress, tops and shared it all on social media just to keep people interested because I wasn’t making the leather goods anymore.
“I’d not done any proper dressmaking for myself for years, because I just hadn’t had time, but I loved it, and other people loved it and started asking if they could buy the items I shared on social media. Asking whether I was going to make more.
“So every time I made something, I made two of them and sold one.”
Clothing worked on the other side of pregnancy
Once Rosie’s baby arrived she realised that they clothing she’d made, worked really well on the other side of pregnancy.
“I was thinking ‘Why is no-one doing this?’, because this is obvious, I can wear this forever, but it also worked for a time in my life when I needed it and I might need it again in future.
“Women’s bodies change all the time.”
Busy with a newborn, Rosie gave patterns and materials to a couple of seamstresses in the community who started making clothes in small numbers for her.
Leaving the security of a salary
Six months back at the College after maternity leave and Rosie decided it was no longer what she wanted to do. She’d established a studio where she was working and making part time.
“It was really scary because financially there was no security, and although things were good, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I just making to demand.
“Then I started asking my followers if they wanted to see items longer or in different patterns.”
Covid arrived and changed everything
Four months into the studio, Covid arrived and Rosie explained that for her business, “it was the best thing that could have happened”.
We all remember how during the first Lockdown people had more time to learn how to cook and bake, turned their gardens into mini allotments, and were generally able to slow down.
Rosie said,
“People started to appreciated handmade a little bit more, made more considered purchases, appreciated talking to a real person, were buying things online. In the February of 2020 I launched a Nicole jacket – and that is still a best seller for us, as it was then.
“However, I didn’t know what had hit me, because I was getting orders in for the jackets and at the time it was just me making them. My husband was working from home, but still working full time, and we didn’t have any childcare.”
Split shift working
Rosie was having to get up at 5am to make until 9am at the studio, going home to look after their baby, then at 5pm she’d go back to the studio to make more jackets, come home at 9pm.
She did that every day for months. It was exhausting, but exciting, she said, adding,
“If people were willing to pay the the true cost for making this garment and they appreciate it, value it, understand, then maybe that can apply to all the other things that I’m, doing and making and maybe this is a viable business and maybe I could employ someone else.”
Which is exactly what Rosie did next.
Moved back to the Island
A move back to the Isle of Wight, initially working from her Dad’s garage, then working from home, Rosie was having to use freelance seamstresses around the Island to help fulfil the orders.
Then the Government’s Kickstart scheme launched, and all three roles she applied for were approved.
Providing the opportunities she didn’t have
Poppy, who was the first to arrive, is now in charge of the sewing room, supervising all work. She was followed by Alice.
Both with fashion degrees, had returned to the Island after university, but were unable to find work. Next came Annabel, who joined on the digital marketing side.
A vast improvement in soft skills and confidence
All three have blossomed, says Rosie,
“The thing that I’ve noticed the most about the girls is that they’ve always had the skills, they’ve always had their basic ability in terms of the physical job, but what I’ve seen in them is a vast improvement in soft skills and confidence.
“Confidence in exploring their abilities and asking questions, all of those things that you don’t necessarily get a uni because you’re taught to pass your degree.”
She continued,
“Alice, particularly when she started with us, was very quiet, almost completely silent for three months and she’s not like that now.
“You can walk in and have a lovely chat with her and she opens conversations, which has been amazing.”
“She has a career now in a professional role”
When Alice got to the end of her Kickstart placement, Roake wasn’t in a position to offer her a full-time contract, but kept her on a couple of days a week and Rosie’s brothers – who also run a sustainable clothing company on the Island (more on them later) – employed Alice for the rest of the work.
The skills she had been picking up at each company was transferable to the other, and Alice was working across the two businesses up until the end of last year. However, she’s now been poached to work full time with Rosie’s brothers, something Rosie is delighted about.
“She has a career now in a professional role, which is amazing and I’m really proud that she’s been able to do that.”
New apprentice
Roake have also just hired their first apprentice, Maddie, who completed a diploma in art and design, and has been sewing at home ever since, but couldn’t find any relevant work on the Island.
Being proactive, Maddie approached Roake asking if there were any opportunities and as Alice was due to move on in January, Rosie offered Maddie a retail apprenticeship role with the company.
“I feel like it’s gone full circle”
In conjunction with the Isle of Wight College, the apprenticeship covers everything from manufacture through to interacting with customers, packing, shipping, marketing and social media. Maddie will learn something about every bit of the business, which is exciting for all involved.
Rosie said,
“I feel like it’s gone full circle, in that I’m back to teaching apprenticeships again, but I’m absolutely loving it.”
Family connections
If you’re thinking that Rosie’s surname sounds familiar, you’d be right.
She is the sibling to Rob and Mart Drake-Knight of Rapanui and Teemill fame.
Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship clearly runs in the family.
“Nothing is forever if you don’t want it to be”
During the conversation, their Mum’s influence came up time and again, and understandably she was a huge inspiration to all.
Rosie said her Mum’s motto, “nothing is forever if you don’t want it to be” really helped her through difficult periods when she wasn’t sure what to do next. And that’s the advice she gives to young people on the Island starting out after education, whether that’s straight from school, college or university.
“Realise that it doesn’t matter if you don’t find the right thing straight away, bank those skills, but make sure you seize opportunities that might come your way to realise your ambitions.”
Behind the curtain
Rosie’s previous studios have always been hidden away from the public gaze, but her new space in Church Street is a little different.
Behind the beautiful window display and delicate muslin curtain you can see Rosie, Poppy and Maddie working away, either on the machines, packing or cutting out fabric.
So we asked what it’s like now being on show, Rosie said,
“It has been a strange transition from sitting in a studio working away without anyone watching, to suddenly being on show, where anyone walking past can see what we’re doing.
“It takes a bit of getting used to, but I’m also glad that it’s visible and might spark interest from a young person.”
Pop-up retail space
In the future Roake will be offering pop-up space for a variety of other Island businesses who don’t yet have retail space.
The idea is to give them a chance to try out the experience and raise awareness of what they have to offer.
‘Pre-à-porter’ event
Next month Roake will be hosting the first of these with a pre-loved sale in the studio on Friday 3rd February (this will be ticketed, with drinks and goodie bags) and Saturday 4th February.
Tickets will be available from this Friday (20th) for the ‘Pre-à-porter’ – A full curated shop of pre-loved, great quality clothing.
The future
In terms of providing something that wasn’t available to her when she first came out of university, Rosie really does seem to have nailed it for young Islanders.
Here’s to many more years of success and positive career pathways for creative Islanders.
Find out more
Find out more about Roake by visiting their Website, or following them on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
