(Christina & Kate in 1983)

To celebrate Mother’s day we thought we would introduce you to Christina and Kate Strutt, the mother and daughter duo behind the Cabbages & Roses brand. Kate was born in 1983 and Cabbages & Roses followed 17 years later in 2000 when Kate was just 16. She was immediately, compulsorily enlisted as a model, a shop assistant, an accountant, teenage advisor, telephonist, stamp sticker and brochure folder.

(Kate modelling for Cabbages & Roses in 2006)

Fast forward 16 years more than twice her life, and Kate finds herself as Managing Director of the company that her mother can only direct creatively. ‘It is a blissful relief’ says Christina who handed over the reigns in June last year ’she has inherited her father’s excellent brain and can turn her hand to practically anything creatively but also in the complicated world of business’.   

(Kate in the Cabbages & Roses Chelsea office)

 
'I have grown up looking from the outside at what Mama Cabbage has done, from spending days on photoshoot locations watching her work with teams of talented and creative people; to seeing her undertake huge interior design projects (all before C&R started). I have always been in awe of what she has been able to do and it takes a quiet confidence that is easy to miss but gives everyone around her a great feeling of comfort. When C&R started, it felt like it was naturally a part of our life and I always felt I would end up there too, almost like going home.'

 
(Christina & Kate in the Cabbages & Roses Chelsea office)

 
In the 5 or so years I spent away from C&R working with other companies, start ups and new ideas around the world, it underlines how hard it is to create something from scratch and to build a momentum that carries you and others forwards. This is something I have always respected my mother for being able to do, along with the way she sees the world and is able to distill it into her own interpretation; something very few people in the world can do! 
  

(Christina & Kate in 1985 photograph by Alex Chatelain)

 
With two Strutt heads better than one, the pair are making exciting plans to continue the growth of Cabbages & Roses.

(Kate's first modelling assignment with Isabelle Townsend for British Vogue 1985 photograph by Alex Chatelain)