The Female Panel
An Interview with Kate Rose, Founder & Creative Director of TUTTI
There’s a certain kind of confidence that only comes with time. Not loudness, not visibility, not performance, but distinctness. The kind built slowly, over years of repetition, restraint and instinct.
Sitting inside TUTTI’s concept store in North Shields, surrounded by softened textures, muted tones and thoughtful detail, it becomes obvious very quickly that this isn’t a brand built in reaction to the world around it. It was built long before visibility grew currency. Before founders became personalities. Before, brands were expected to perform constantly online.
Kate Rose built TUTTI over twenty years ago, in a time when businesses weren’t measured instantly, and style wasn’t formed by algorithms. There was no instant feedback, no need to share every decision, and no constant pressure to prove relevance. Instead, there was time to think, observe, and trust her instincts while quietly shaping her own perspective.
“When I started Tutti, there was no immediate feedback,” she says. “You didn’t post something and see how it did right away. You had to live with your decisions longer, trust them, and accept that not everything would be quickly validated by others.”
That slower pace influenced how she built the business. Instead of always reacting, she learned by watching what customers returned for, what they held onto, what quietly endured over time.
“It made my instincts stronger,” she says. “You couldn’t just react, so you had to build confidence from within. I think having that distance was actually helpful. Not reacting to everything meant the brand stayed true instead of trying to keep up with everyone else.”
Listening to Kate now, it’s hard to imagine the younger version of herself who at one time felt completely out of place in business spaces. But the early reality of building TUTTI was far less polished than people might assume.
After finishing her Fashion Marketing degree at Northumbria University, Kate had trouble finding opportunities in the North East. She took a job as an interior designer with Mamas & Papas, far from home, but soon realised the lifestyle didn’t match what she wanted.“I remember thinking, is my whole life really going to change for this job?” she says.“I’d always wanted to do something for myself, but I didn’t really know where to start.”
So, aged twenty-three, carrying student debt and very little certainty, she decided to start anyway.
“I think there’s something about that age where you’re naive enough to just go for it,” she laughs. “I probably didn’t fully understand how hard it was going to be.”
Even opening a business bank account felt intimidating at the time. Kate remembers sitting in front of a bank manager with a printed business plan, being questioned intensely on whether the business would work, despite not even applying for an overdraft.
“It felt like you had to justify yourself constantly,” she says.“And when you’re young, female and completely new to business, you do question whether you belong in those spaces.”
That feeling simply intensified at networking events. At the time, many of the business spaces she entered felt overwhelmingly male and deeply corporate.
Kate remembers arriving at events surrounded by suits, formal conversations together with an atmosphere that felt entirely disconnected from who she naturally was.
“I actually went home once and told my parents I thought I needed to buy a suit just to fit in,” she says, laughing. “I remember wearing one to another event and feeling completely unlike myself.”
That discomfort formed her relationship with visibility for years afterwards.
“I think those experiences made me retreat a little bit,” she admits.
“I kept my head down, worked hard and stayed under the radar.”
Ironically, that quieter approach became one of TUTTI’s biggest strengths.
While other brands chased attention, Kate focused on being consistent.
The brand grew slowly and on purpose, built around natural textures, simple design, and timeless style instead of trends. Coastal tones, weathered metals, layered fabrics, and imperfect finishes all show Kate’s natural pull toward atmosphere and feeling, not quick consumption.
“I’ve always been attracted to spaces and objects that feel calming,” she says. “I notice texture, lighting, materials, how something makes you feel emotionally. I think that naturally filters into the brand.”
That emotional connection became even more tangible with the launch of the concept store, a project Kate describes as something she had envisioned for years before bringing it to life.“
I never wanted just a shop,” she explains.“I wanted people to experience the world around the brand properly. Product is one part of it, but atmosphere, feeling and experience hold just as much.”
Inside, customers can browse jewellery, clothing, home goods, coffee, flowers, and take part in creative workshops. Designers work openly in the store.
Nothing feels rushed or just about sales. The space is carefully arranged to help people slow down, which Kate thinks people want now more than ever.
“There’s enough noise already,” she says. “I think people want spaces that feel thoughtful now.”
She’s used that same restraint in growing the business. Over twenty years, she’s ignored trends, turned down opportunities, and made careful choices about what not to pursue.“
There’s a long list of things we haven’t done,” she says.“Aggressive discounting, chasing trends, overextending categories. Those decisions are often invisible from the outside, but they shape the brand just as much as the visible ones.”
Some opportunities might have seemed smart on paper, but her instincts often told her otherwise.
“You learn to listen to discomfort,” she explains.
“Usually it’s a signal that you’re about to compromise something more valuable than short-term gain.”
That instinct was tested heavily in 2020. Like much of retail, TUTTI faced a period that forced difficult decisions and uncomfortable honesty.
“2020 stripped everything back,”Kate says.
“It exposed where we were resilient and where we weren’t.”
She doesn’t tell a polished founder story or use dramatic language about overcoming adversity. Instead, she’s honest and thoughtful.
“Some decisions were really uncomfortable at the time. We had to tighten the business, rethink how we worked, and let go of some old habits. But it brought clarity.”
At times, she says, the business almost didn’t make it. What helped wasn’t a big reinvention, but discipline.
“We stayed focused on what mattered and tried not to make panicked decisions.”
Being self-funded shaped her thinking, too. Every choice mattered because it directly affected the business’s future.
“It makes you disciplined because there’s no safety net,” she says.“But it also gives you freedom. You’re not tied to outside deadlines or expectations.”
Now, as TUTTI enters a new phase of growth, Kate is steering a very different stage of business from the one she built alone in the early years. The company is moving into extensive expansion plans, with new stores, international distribution and a long-term strategy designed to scale the brand significantly over the next five years.
As part of this growth, Kate brought in Helen Williamson, former Managing Director at Whistles, to help with the next stage.
Kate talks about this decision with honesty, showing both confidence and self-awareness.
“Bringing in someone with that level of experience was really about recognising what the business needed next,” she says.“There’s a point where instinct alone isn’t enough anymore. You need structure, operational clarity plus leadership around you that can help support the scale of where you’re trying to go.”
She sees it not as giving something up, but as making what’s already there even stronger.
“I think there’s always a tension when you’ve built something yourself for so long,” she says. “But it’s also a sign of maturity in the business, understanding that growth requires different viewpoints and skills.”
Protecting the essence of the brand while allowing the business to evolve has become one of the biggest balancing acts of the coming chapter.
“When you’re clear on what the brand stands for, you can allow other people to build around it without losing its identity,” she explains.
Kate’s idea of growth has changed as well.“Wanting to grow and being ready to grow are very different things,” she says.
“Wanting to grow and being ready to grow are very different things”
“For me, readiness meant structure, leadership and operational understanding. Scaling isn’t just more of the same. It’s building something strong enough to hold complexity.”
Now, she’s focused less on growing quickly and more on lasting. It’s less about getting bigger and more about building strength.
“Maintaining something is harder than starting it,” she says thoughtfully.“Starting is energy and vision. Maintaining needs patience, resilience plus the ability to evolve without losing direction.”
She also talks honestly about the emotions behind it all, the doubt, rebuilding, and uncertainty that come with running a long-term business, even though people rarely talk about it.
“There’s still imposter syndrome at times,” she admits.“I think people assume that disappears once a business reaches a certain stage, but it just changes shape. The decisions become bigger, the responsibility becomes heavier.”
Maybe that’s the real theme in everything Kate shares. It’s not about being seen, following trends, or making noise. It’s about endurance.
“What people might not realise,” she says finally,“is how much building a brand is about restraint. It’s not just what you choose to do. It’s what you choose not to do, over and over again, for years.”
