Simone Rocha does Victorian tomboys before heading to Milano

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Feb 17, 2018

Simone Rocha loves a great painter. Many of them have inspired her collections. This season it was the turn of John Constable, though via his portraiture rather than the landscapes for which he is famous.

The result was an epic show staged inside Goldsmiths’ Hall, one of the many grand mansions of the City of London dedicated to hard working guilds. An apt setting for such an opulent and regal selection of clothes, albeit laced with a good deal of punk attitude.
 
Staged on a sunny Saturday morning, the show comes just three days before Rocha's next project in Milan, where she will present 20 looks for Moncler, part of that brand’s gala event, which kicks off the Italian season.

Here in London, Rocha sent out swirling dresses made in embroidered tulles, though all layered together to create a fabric dense as armor. This season her signature balloon shape dresses came with hints of golden landscapes and disheveled 19th-century regalia, but somehow done with a punk edge thanks to the pointy brogues and patches of goat hair that almost looked like feathers.
 
“It’s the beauty of Constable, but interpreted for today. It’s real and done for modern life,” explained Rocha in the backstage.
 
Another key element: bold historical plaids with checks on top; and tinsel but woven into its own cloth, the same tinsel used in the ecru paper invitation.
 
“I wanted a very texture driven collection,” added the Irish-born designer. Albeit punctuated with sharp suiting and tailoring, which is something she introduced into her oeuvre.
 
Toy boy suits meet Victorian tomboys. And a contrast to her previous collection, which was all about innocence and purity. This was a darker vision of fashion, and why not? Given the times in which we live.