'I create Brontë-inspired products and gave Wuthering Heights director Emerald Fennell one of my tote bags'
Haworth-based maker Rosalia Ferrara creates Brontë-inspired products and sells them at a creators market she founded in the village. Laura Reid reports.
Wuthering Heights director Emerald Fennell left Haworth last September with a gift – a sage green tote bag adorned with a quote from Emily Brontë's 1847 novel. "I wish I was a girl again, half savage, hardy and free,” it reads, the words uttered by protagonist Catherine Earnshaw in the book as she reflects on a childhood spent in the wilds of Yorkshire moorland.
That moorland, surrounding the West Yorkshire village of Haworth, and its connection with the Brontë sisters inspired the tote bag, which is part of a collection influenced by the spirit of the sisters and their brother Branwell. It’s the brainchild of Rosalia Ferrara, PR and publicist and for the last six years, the entrepreneur behind Brontë Bitch.
The brand was developed “purely by accident”, she says. "It was in lockdown and obviously everybody had a lot of time on their hands and I thought I would look for a cool (Brontë inspired) t-shirt, something a bit edgy, or a bag. I spent a lot of time and I couldn't find anything at all that I liked. So that's where my idea came from, my Eureka moment.”
Rosalia’s range features bold black-and-white illustrations with literary quotes across vibrant tote bags, greeting cards, t-shirts and tea towels. Her first design incorporated the Brontë sisters and a quote from Jane Eyre. The second is based on Emily and her love of animals, featuring the quote from Wuthering Heights, whilst another is inspired by Branwell Brontë, the brother of the literary sisters and a creative in his own right.
Rosalia sees herself as the founder and creative director. She collaborates with local artists, commissioning them to turn her ideas into illustrations and designs for the products. “But the next illustration I’m actually going to put myself out of my comfort zone and put pen to paper and do the fourth one,” she says. “No pressure because I'm not a trained artist but I am a creative if you like...
"(Wuthering Heights singer) Kate Bush was on the cards for for last year. But I basically got side-tracked with everything else I do...I've got the Kate Bush design in mind though and that's going to be released this year by my own hand.”
As well as her products being available online, they’re also sold at the regular Haworth and Yorkshire Creatives Makers Markets, held at The Old School Room in the village, a building taught at by all the Brontë family. Rosalia is creator and curator of the market, a grassroots event supporting independent artists, designers, makers and food producers from across Yorkshire.
It returns this weekend for the first time this year, with several new makers having their Haworth debut. These include Captured For You, a powerful wildlife mini-exhibition by a lady who left her NHS career after breast cancer treatment to pursue her passion for travel and photography and Catlow Yarns, selling yarn from Gotland sheep, sheared and spun in Yorkshire.
"Unlike a standard craft fair, Haworth and Yorkshire Creatives Makers Markets focus on extraordinary makers who create unusual, one-of-a-kind products—celebrating originality, creativity, and the stories behind each artisan,” Rosalia says. “I book quality basically and people that are active on social media and are happy to promote the event as well because it's very hands-on. We all promote each other because that means everybody's going to benefit - it's a nice little community as well.”
Rosalia, who grew up in Haworth, has been running makers markets for more than 25 years, having previously created one in London. She moved to the capital in 1999 for her career, largely in music and events public relations, but since 2014 has been settled back in Brontë country. “It's all very inspiring here. The landscape, the atmosphere…still to this day, it's influencing so many people,” she reflects. “People that come and visit, there's so many tourists.”
Most of her customers are tourists visiting the area and her Brontë Bitch products have now reached as far as Australia, New Zealand and the USA, as well as being worn across Europe. Oscar and BAFTA award-winning Fennell was gifted her tote bag during a visit to Haworth for the Women in Writing Festival last September, ahead of the release of her film adaptation of Wuthering Heights earlier this year.
"I absolutely loved it,” says Rosalia of the film. “I went with an open mind. Of course, it isn't like the book. Let's face it. She's done her own take of it and used film as her platform. She's clearly a fan. But if you've seen her other work, you would expect that it would be controversial, which is right up my street. I loved it.”
As a place the Brontës once called home, Haworth was already a destination for tourists – and Rosalia believes it’s now getting more attention as a result of the film. She’s seen its beauty since childhood. “We were always on the moors. I think a lot of people take for granted what we have on our doorsteps,” she muses. “The landscape is intoxicating. It's inspiring. It's beautiful.”
“I suppose at a younger age you didn't understand as much as when you're an adult, how inspiring the Brontës are,” she continues. “How they were pioneers, trailblazers, how they had to have monikers to release their books in a man's world and all that. And also just how creative they were from such a young age. It's just amazing really that they were so important and lived here on our doorstep.”
- Haworth and Yorkshire Creatives Makers Market returns to The Old School Room, Haworth, on March 28 and 29 and April 11 and 12, 10am–4pm, with more dates to follow later this year.