OUR STORY

ROSA QUAY®

2013 | The Beginning

The story of ROSA QUAY® began in the UK in 2013, with a group of friends meeting and travelling together.

We came from different cities and backgrounds. At the time, each of us was still finding our own way through life and thinking about the future, yet we shared a similar attentiveness to the things we encountered every day: whether something had been carefully designed and made; whether its details rewarded close attention; whether it would stand up to use; and what ideas it carried.

Through time spent together, travel and conversation, this shared attentiveness gradually became a way of thinking about and exploring the world.

2014–2016 | Encounters and Exploration

Before the brand had a name, we often came together: travelling, trying things out and exchanging ideas.

Between 2014 and 2016, we travelled between one another’s cities and hometowns, meeting many important new friends along the way. Friends introduced us to more friends, and gatherings led to new conversations. Through these encounters, we came to know people, places and ways of living that had once been unfamiliar to us. Each meeting allowed us to see the world from a different perspective, opening up new ways of seeing and thinking.

As we moved between different cities and hometowns, we began to notice the rhythms of life shaped by each place — through its streets, harbours and everyday habits. We came to see how different ways of living and thinking shape people’s choices, aesthetics and memories, and began to pay closer attention to how people chose the things around them. These experiences helped us to better understand the connections between people, and influenced the way we came to think about objects. Beyond appearance and price, we became interested in how something was made, why it was made, and how it might be used and understood.

All of these experiences have become part of ROSA QUAY®, and continue to inform the way we collaborate with others, select pieces, and develop our own work.

2016–2023 | Beginning with a Curated Shop

From 2016 onwards, a few of the friends who had first come together through travel and conversation had gained experience in their respective fields and creative practices. They decided to come together and give shape to ideas they had been carrying with them for years.

They began by bringing together selected pieces through a series of projects, before opening a shop to put those ideas into practice. This shop became the prototype for ROSA QUAY®.

In selecting pieces, we looked beyond clothing and objects themselves. Whenever we encountered a piece of work, we tried to understand the thinking and making behind it, as well as the culture and experiences it responded to. With this approach, we gradually discovered and shared a wider range of work.

Along the way, we also built relationships with makers and brands. Through writing, photography and other visual material, we tried not only to make the work visible, but also to introduce the ideas and context behind it.

As these projects gradually developed, we began turning our ideas into work of our own. Sometimes this work took the form of clothing, objects, writing or images; at other times, it emerged through visual design, collaborations and projects in other forms. These gave us the space to consider our ideas carefully and gradually develop them into finished work.

At the same time, other friends we met through those early travels and exchanges, and have stayed in touch with ever since, also began to establish studios and develop creative projects of their own. These include Great Tengu®, Negation Normal Form® and Quest the Neko®. Although our backgrounds, areas of expertise and creative interests differ, we have continued to share, collaborate and support one another.

As ROSA QUAY® gradually developed online, it became increasingly clear to us that what mattered was not simply selecting and selling pieces, but finding ways, through creative work and events, to create connections between pieces, ideas and people. ROSA QUAY® has therefore evolved from its beginnings as a curated shop into a brand with clothing and styling at its heart, bringing together selected pieces, our own work, editorial content, creative collaborations and events.