Coming up Rose

With her dining room-turned-design studio flooded with patterns and posters, Ella Rose works through the night painting, sketching and sewing custom-designed clothes. Such is the schedule of an LSU senior readying her own line for a splashy debut at NOLA Fashion Week this month.

Adding to the hype, Fashion Week has handed the Baton Rouge artist its first “Emerging Designer” recognition.

Rose says her new line is inspired by classic love stories. Watching what she calls “girly” romantic comedies alone at her apartment last summer served as all the inspiration she needed for her budget-friendly screen-printed garments. 

“I can watch Breakfast at Tiffany‘s every day if I needed to,” Rose says with a laugh. “I love the old classic love stories with Audrey Hepburn.” 

Rose’s work is steeped in the colors, styles and silhouettes of Hepburn’s 1960s films, but her process is thoroughly modern.

She paints her inspirations, then digitally edits images of those paintings. Finally, she creates clothes based on her fresh digital designs.

Rose’s work will premiere at Fashion Week on March 3. nola-fashionweek.com