Creatives at Home: Ruth Tate in Her Fashion House
A fashion designer shows us her backyard retreat, where she creates beautiful seasonal clothing
Susannah Thai 8 March 2016
Houzz Australia Staff. A freelance photographer based in Sydney who sniffs out good...More
Ruth Tate is a Sydney-based fashion designer who creates seasonal wear from her cottage studio at the back of her home in Enmore. The studio is tailored to meet Tate’s needs, and she is very happy working in here, particularly as she enjoys having a place to retreat from her home life and let her creativity flow. There’s no doubt, as soon as you walk into her space, that it belongs to a fashion designer – from her reference books to mood boards and pattern cutting tools, everything necessary is at hand to allow Tate to produce beautiful clothing.
Creative Space at a Glance
Name: Ruth Tate
Age: 49
Occupation: Fashion Designer
Location: Enmore, NSW
What’s made here: Beautiful clothes for the discerning woman, in standard sizes or made to measure.
Creative Space at a Glance
Name: Ruth Tate
Age: 49
Occupation: Fashion Designer
Location: Enmore, NSW
What’s made here: Beautiful clothes for the discerning woman, in standard sizes or made to measure.
Tate has been living on this property for 10 years. Before the studio at the back of her home became her fashion house, it was a guest house for visitors. The only changes she made to it when it was converted into a work space were giving it a fresh lick of lime green paint inside, adding built-in shelving and then kitting it out to suit her taste and the needs of her work.
Tate studied Fashion and Knitted Textiles at Winchester School of Art in the UK. She finds inspiration in history, film, vintage fashion and nature, as well as past masters of the fashion design industry, Vionnet, Gres, and Chanel.
She explains that every collection is a creative challenge, which she thrives on. “Turning my 2D ideas into 3D reality and selecting which ones will go into the final collection is all part of the fun,” she says.
She explains that every collection is a creative challenge, which she thrives on. “Turning my 2D ideas into 3D reality and selecting which ones will go into the final collection is all part of the fun,” she says.
Hanging on the portable racks in her studio is her latest collection. A work-in-progress is displayed on the mannequin
Tate can’t live without this large work table, which has been built at the perfect height for her. It sits in the middle of the studio and can fit every swatch and roll of fabric comfortably.
The table also looks out to the garden, which is where the majority of the studio’s natural light comes from. Cool breezes travel through the window throughout the day, helping to keep the creative juices flowing.
The table also looks out to the garden, which is where the majority of the studio’s natural light comes from. Cool breezes travel through the window throughout the day, helping to keep the creative juices flowing.
A large mood board is hung across from the work table to give Tate inspiration. She pins her favourite looks from magazines and people she admires on here.
Some of the items in this designer’s tool kit include a measuring tape, heavy-duty scissors to cut through different weights of fabric and, of course, lots of pins.
Tate has been in the fashion design industry for over a decade, and so files and files of drawings are stored away neatly in folders and boxes across the back of the studio. She added this shelving system to the space when she first started working from here, to make it feel more organised.
One of Tate’s favourite items in the room is this desk, which once belonged to her grandmother. “It may look like a regular cabinet, but when the drawer is pulled down it turns into a work desk,” says Tate.
