From Moore College of Art & Design’s Interior Design program to leading Rohe Creative, one of Philadelphia’s top design firms, Kate Rohrer ’05 has always been inspired by conceptual storytelling. As the founder and creative director of the company, she transforms spaces into immersive experiences, blending her vision with the skills and confidence she developed as a Moore student.
Rohrer journey began at Moore, where she initially intended to pursue Fashion Design. However, the Foundation Year program, which exposed her new ideas and different artistic disciplines, helped her discover her passion.
“I saw the work from the Interior Design program hanging on the walls, and I would walk around the Interior Design floor to see what was going on. I was so interested in the model building and other projects the students were doing,” she said. “During that Foundation year, I learned I was supposed to be an interior designer. Moore exposed me to that as a career path.”
Some of Rohrer’s earliest inspiration came from her time working at The Continental, a restaurant founded by Stephen Starr in Old City, Philadelphia. She worked as a server and bartender while still a student at Moore, giving her a front row seat to design as a transformative experience.
“Being there was like a case study for everything I do now,” Rohrer said. “Stephen Starr thought about everything—the interiors, the menu, the music, and even the staff—to create an incredible, cohesive experience.”
Soon after graduation, Rohrer began her career as a junior designer at Daroff Design, working under 2024 Visionary Woman Awards honoree and trailblazing designer Karen Daroff ‘70. She credits Karen’s mentorship with shaping her as a designer and a leader.
“Karen is someone who leads by example, and I think that’s the kind of person that I’m drawn to. She could command a room and make you feel good about the decisions you’re making,” she said. “As a business owner myself, I have so much more admiration for her now than I even did back then. I have more of an understanding of everything she was going through on a daily basis, whether it was design work or running the whole show.”
Her career continued to grow as she joined a SLDesign, a boutique interior design firm founded by Chris Sheffield, a former colleague of Daroff. It was there that she began to focus on narrative-driven hospitality projects, motivated by the ways restaurants and hotels bring people together. As she thought about her next step, Rohrer drew from the confidence she built as a Moore student and made the decision to launch her own business.
“Moore prepares women to feel like anything is possible. It instilled a fierceness in me that registered in me as I progressed through my career,” she said. “There are times now when I think about how supported and confident I feel because I had the resources I did at Moore.”
In 2014, Rohrer launched Rohe Creative, a boutique design firm that prides itself on work that she describes as “the opposite of cookie-cutter.” Starting from her living room, Rohrer grew the firm through word of mouth and has maintained relationships with clients for nearly a decade, creating dynamic spaces such as Darling Jack’s Tavern and the Guild House Hotel in Philadelphia. She also expanded her work to cities like Louisville, Austin, Atlantic City and Palm Beach.
The Guild House Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Darling Jack's Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Reflecting on her success, Rohrer credits Moore with preparing her for the challenges of running a business. She pays it forward to young designers by hiring Moore graduates like Monica Glebocki ‘16, an interior designer who started at Rohe as an intern.
“There’s always going to be a special place in my heart for anyone that came from Moore. There’s an unspoken bond that each person that graduates from Moore has with each other. It’s so apparent when I interview people from Moore,” she said. “It’s incredible to have this shared experience at Rohe and know we were cut from the same cloth.”
As Rohe Creative celebrates more than 10 years in business, Kate continues to push the boundaries of design, creating spaces that inspire and delight. She advises prospective students to follow their passions and lean into the community at Moore.
“If something sparks in you when you’re visiting Moore, pay attention to it. You may not know what it is or what it means yet, but if you can pay attention to the feeling that drew you to Moore, there’s more for the taking,” Rohrer said. “You get out of it what you put into it, and there’s a community at Moore that’s really going to support you.”
Moore College of Art & Design is the only independent art and design college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Want to learn more about the Interior Design major at Moore? Contact our Admissions team at enroll@moore.edu or 215.965.4015 to set up a call or a campus visit. We'd love to tell you more!
Photos by Jason Varney.
