Meet the makers -Hannah Roche of Released From Love
Hannah Roche and Lachlan Malone fell in love, became jewellers and RFL was born. Beautifully handcrafted, each piece blurs the lines between traditional and experimental, perfect and imperfect. Ethically made in Australia, RFL uses environmentally friendly precious metals that will last centuries, not seasons.
We believe you will love these pieces and their story just as much as we do.
Meet Hannah Roche
Where is home now and where did you grow up?
I grew up in Toowoomba, about an hour and a half inland from Brisbane. After living and working in Sydney for a few years, we moved back to QLD during Covid to be closer to family while we run our business and raise our son.
I love the story behind your brand, can you take us through the journey of starting Released from Love?
The label was founded by my husband, Lach, and myself on our 1 year marriage anniversary after we learned to make fine jewellery to make one another's wedding rings. The journey to start the label has been a long one though, I guess, and something we never planned. Lach and I first met each other in 2007 at a punk show he was playing in. I'd just started studying for a creative industries degree. We didn't start dating until a few years later, and by the time we were living and working in Brisbane, me as a photographer and Lach as a philosopher for a local university. Work was taking me to Sydney a lot so we ended up moving. Lachlan wanted to learn something new so he enrolled in Australia's oldest traditional crafts school, Sturt, to learn fine furniture making. The school also offered fine jewellery courses, so we did the course together as well, learning under a jeweller for 12 months before continuing our learning on our own.
The first jewellery we made was our wedding bands, and I also made myself a pair of drop baroque pearl earrings for our wedding day. Between me working as a fashion photographer and Lach as a lecturer, we made jewellery for friends, family, and ourselves, and these pieces started getting the industry’s attention quickly, and before we knew it, it was being featured in Vogue & RUSSH, which led to the buying director of Matches Fashion, Natalie Kingham, meeting with us to talk about jewellery, our goals, and our approach to making. We were completely out of our depth, but she was kind enough to give us a roadmap for growth, so we took her advice and launched the label on our 1 year marriage anniversary as an homage to where it all started.
Each piece is made using the label’s own “anti-kosmímata” technique. Can you tell us about this process? Was it challenging to find the right supplier for the material?
Creating the "anti-kosmímata" practice took years for us to develop. So did finding the right suppliers, but we only work with local Australian precious metal suppliers that are certified with the Responsible Jewellery Council, which uses environmentally friendly precious metals that are responsibly and ethically sourced from guaranteed conflict-free areas in Australia. "Anti-kosmímata" is Greek for "anti-jewellery", and we're both so inspired by Greek philosophies of aesthetics, crafts, and life that the name just made sense. We've called our approach "anti-jewellery" because it rebels against so many of the archaic practices of fine jewellery, which focussed on status and power and inequality. We wanted to create an approach that had ethics at its core but also the craftsmanship of traditional jewellery. Although we're trained in fine jewellery making, we feel like a lot of the methods and techniques are too married to tradition, so we wanted to create something that's unique to RFL. This approach takes all the best parts of fine jewellery making (craftsmanship, quality, precious metals, luxury) and merges it with modern technologies (3D printing, CAD) and morality (ethical manufacturing, philosophical concepts that challenge ugly jewellery traditions).
Prior to starting RFL, you worked as a photographer for the likes Vogue, Net-a-porter and so many more. How did you break into photography and the fashion industry when you first started?
It was 2014 and I had just finished studying in Brisbane. I saw a job advertised on Pedestrian by Kaity Ham from Modern Legacy looking for a streetstyle photographer. I found her minimal and monochrome style refreshing for Brisbane, and we met for a coffee and the rest is history! We worked together in Brisbane for a few years, and when she moved to Syd she introduced me to an agency who ended up representing me and things grew quite quickly from there. My first big job was for David Jones.
Instagram has become a fairly important part of most businesses. How do you navigate this space?
We use instagram as a conversational library of our pieces, designs, look books, and community. We approach it, like all Social Media, as a brand - we want to show what RFL is, describe how each piece is made, where it's made etc. I suppose what's challenging is navigating the personal and the professional on platforms like this. The label itself is rooted in something so personal, I mean, it's the literally the embodiment of Lach's and I's relationship to each other, but we also want RFL to be a brand that our community loves, as something almost separate from us, which makes it hard to find the balance between oversharing and sharing content that's useful for our community.
How do you market your brand to consumers and reach out to editors?
We’re grateful to be represented by The Known Agency, who we love working with day to day, so they handle all of our marketing and wholesale. They’re all very good at what they do – they’re smart and kind and are a part of a fashion and cultural movement that’s pushing Australian and New Zealand designers to continually innovate worthwhile fashion as art, ethics, and social impact.
You are a mum of a little one. What has been the best part of motherhood so far?
Seeing the world through my son’s eyes and watching him learn so eagerly. It’s more enriching than I could have ever imagined. .
As a new mum myself, I know how hard it is to juggle and navigate work and family time. How do you motivate yourself and manage your time?
I’ve always worked better under pressure, so I’m probably the most productive I’ve ever been because I’m time poor! I have designated Auguste days, and designated workdays and on the weekends we have a hard rule that we don’t work. I’ll catch up on emails or urgent things during naps or in the evening before I relax. I set timers so I don’t get distracted and I find Reformer Pilates 3+ times a week keeps my mind clear and keeps me feeling well and motivated. We’re lucky to live within 20 mins from our parents and they provide incredible support.
What are your favourite places in Brisbane?
Chin Chin, Golden Age and quiet walks around Rose Bay at sunrise.
On skincare routine :
In the morning I use Emma Lewisham illuminating Oil Cleanser and Skin Shield in addition to my MAC nude lippie. In the evening I use Emma Lewisham Exfoliant, Go-To Skin Hero + Emma Lewisham Supernatural 72 Hour Crème. I use an Aesop clay mask once a week.
On bedtime routine :
Wash twice weekly with kerastase, natural blow dry with dyson airwrap, ORIBE weightless hair when it’s damp and ORIBE texture spray.
On bedside essentials :
Aesop lip balm, rain app, silk eye mask, water.
Interview — Zeenat Wilkinson
Photography — Supplied by RFL
