Jane Rockett and Lucy St George, Co-founders of Rockett St George, talk about how their distinctive brand has evolved over the years and what the future holds as they continue to innovate with their homeware collections.
Tell us about your design background and the history of the brand.
Lucy: I was a florist for 10 years and worked all over London for an events company that used to host celebrity parties and corporate events and Jane’s background is in PR and photography. However, Jane and I have always shared a passion for Interiors. We would spend hours poring over magazines and trying to get the look but on a very small budget. This is where our training came from; without realising it we knew where everything was from, where it was made and what we would like to pay for it as customers. After many trips to antique and car boot fairs to find treasures for our own homes, friends and family would ask us all the time to find exciting items for them but we found we would end up making one person happy and disappointing more. So, we had that light bulb moment and decided to open Rockett St George as an online store. Over fifteen years later, our passion project has grown beyond our wildest dreams into a fully-fledged business!
What does Rockett St George represent as a design company?
Jane: We started Rockett St George in 2007 with an aim to revitalise the home interiors market with unique, quirky and beautiful designs that can’t be found on the high street. Last year we marked our fifteenth anniversary and with the online homewares market increasingly saturated with ‘fast homewares’, our founding aim remains as important as ever and we are committed to return to our roots; designing and sourcing unique and authentic homewares that help to create extraordinary interiors filled with personality. Over the last few years, our homes have taken on a new importance and have become a place of sanctuary. With that in mind, our collection is designed to help evoke emotion, from humour to nostalgia, and introduce mood-enhancing showstoppers to any space.
How do you continue to innovative in the industry?
Lucy: Instead of focusing on trends, we take our inspiration from the world around us and look at everything from bars and restaurants to history, travel, fashion, food and theatre when designing our collections. We also take a lot of inspiration from vintage design; antique items are often super expensive and the one-off nature means that only one lucky person can have one. Our inspirations are always evolving and this allows our creativity to flow and our collections to constantly evolve too.
How do you manage working globally?
Jane: Global relationships are incredibly important and we have been working with a global team to produce our own brand product designs for many years. We first travelled to India in 2012 to create own first in-house collection. Whilst meeting with local artisans, we established an ongoing partnership with the supplier responsible for handcrafting many of Rockett St George’s bestselling designs today – including the iconic Palm Tree Floor Lamp. As our own brand offering grows, we continue to treasure hunt across the world in search of unique pieces with end-to-end supply chain sustainability.
How do you tackle issues surrounding sustainability in your own processes?
Lucy:Â Sustainability is at the heart of modern-day contemporary design and as the demand for beautiful interiors continues to grow so does our responsibility as a British brand to go beyond legal and regulatory requirements to provide conscious product collections. Our mission as a brand involves sourcing sustainable and eco-friendly products, packaging, materials and shipping methods wherever possible to minimise our impact on the earth. We are always looking to introduce exceptional products made from recycled and sustainable materials within our collection and sustainability is at the heart of every business decision we are making for the future, from our warehouse and workspace to new design ideas.
What are you focused on for 2023?
Jane: Looking to the future, the expansion of the in-house collection remains a priority and we will continue to focus on what Rockett St George does best, introduce beautifully unique homeware that makes people smile and introduces personality to the home, whatever the budget. Particular highlights to watch out for over the next year include an expansion of Rockett St George designed wallpapers and a top-secret collaboration that will be revealed at the end of the year. In addition, after the launch of our London flagship store in late 2022 we are looking forward to reconnecting with our customers in person through a series of in-store events.
www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk | IG: @rockettstgeorge.co.uk
