Natalie Hasseck is the Creative Director of Brand and Product at Rise & Fall, a homewares and apparel start-up.
Before joining the company in 2022, Hasseck founded Onloan, a fashion rental subscription service that aimed to provide a luxury-level experience at high-street prices. She was the first to introduce brands such as Shrimps, Stine Goya, and Rejina Pyo to the rental market, as well as international designers like Farm Rio, Ciao Lucia, Rachel Comey, Sea NY and Maison Jejia to the UK, encouraging customers to explore personal style sustainably. Although Onloan didn’t survive the pandemic, its impact and loyal following endure.
Earlier in her career, Hasseck worked as an Art Director for Mario Testino and later consulted independently for brands like Linda Farrow, Adidas, John Lewis and Topshop.
With over a decade of industry experience, she now leads Rise & Fall’s creative direction across both brand and product.
We caught up with Natalie Hasseck for the latest edition of our ‘My London’ interview series.
Favourite neighbourhood:
It’s love-hate but it’d have to be home which is right in between Dalston, Hackney Downs and Stoke Newington.
Favourite place for brunch:
Around my kitchen table. No one makes a better brunch than my husband. He does a Mexican style scrambled egg wrap which is one of my favourite things to eat in the whole world.
Best coffee in London:
I quit coffee but I still love the smell of it. Going by the smell, KHP Roasters in Newington Green really know what they are doing.
Favourite gallery or museum:
I always adore what Josh Lilley has on. I’m saving for a piece by Gareth Cadwallader.
Tell us a secret:
I’m really not that interesting. Maybe that’s not a secret!
Favourite place to shop:
Aside from Rise & Fall, I’m a treasure-hunter kind of consumer, so anywhere with great secondhand finds is where you’ll find me. Charity shops in wealthy areas are a solid favourite—I’ve found some incredible things in the Marylebone High Street shops. For shishi inspiration, I love the curation at Mouki Mou on Chiltern Street. The prices are nuts, but the designers they bring in from all over the world are incredible.
Favourite place to find inspiration:
People-watching on the Overground gives me loads of ideas. I get on at Dalston and ride all the way across to West London, soaking in the subtle differences in how everyone dresses in their neighbourhood.
Best London destination for a date:
Noble Rot in Fitzrovia every time.
Favourite park:
Although I am grateful for how green and leafy London is, I simply spend way too much time pushing tiny people on swings to get enthusiastic about my answer here. If pressed, I do feel very lucky to live near Clissold Park. The goats are very sweet.
Favourite food market:
The Stoke Newington St Paul’s Church farmers market is genuinely amazing. We go through a lot of their cucumbers.
Your sanctuary in the city:
Yogahome in N16. The community is so wonderful and just walking into the space makes you want to be a better human.
What inspires you?
I’m finding Rise & Fall an inspiring place to work right now. Start-ups can be a slog, but building something from scratch feels like such an immense privilege – and, for me personally, a total joy. It’s like growing a garden.
This season I’m loving:
V Neck jumpers. I can’t get enough of them.
