‘Taking the reins at Burberry? Never say never!’

Kendrick Lamar’s a fan, her shows are unforgettable — and she’s tipped for the top. Meet Martine Rose, London's coolest designer

- BY JOE BROMLEY

Usually we take people to nightlife spaces that are really dark and very moody,” says Martine Rose, the London-based menswear designer with a nearunparalleled cult following.

It transports me back to the sweaty club in a Vauxhall archway which she draped with latex curtains in 2022, and the community centre in Highgate, host to a show, party and many pints the following year. Rose’s runways, when they come, are not ones you forget.

Today, for her spring 2026 showcase, we are on the third floor of a disused office in Marylebone. The walls are dressed up smartly and salon-style, with wedding-dress ivory silk. The ceiling remains untouched.

“This show is obviously lighter and softer — it’s almost like Mills & Boon so it’s like sex, but a different kind: a sort of a soft focus, 1970s smeary sex,’ says the 44-year-old, British-Jamaican designer, who is still riding a wave of attention from custom-making the red bomber jacket Kendrick Lamar wore at this year's Super Bowl halftime performance.

Her show, last weekend, sent her fashionobessed crowd into a spin. She rolled out Rose bestsellers including her red logo football shirts (similar ones can be yours for about £350; less on Vinted) paired with windbreakers (£800), tight leather trousers (£565) and boxy loafers (£435). There were the Nike collaboration “Shox” mule heels, which had a sell-out debut in 2022, and remain a hit — you only had to look at the feet of the front row for proof — and big blazers cut in at the waist.