One of the many things Simone Rocha is queen of is the grand London venue. This afternoon she chose to show her collection in Mansion House, the 1739-built official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. Asked why she favors such high-establishment locales to show her work, she replied: “I love putting it somewhere where it looks like it should but maybe doesn’t belong.”
That instinct for subtle skew-whiff-ness is the grit in the oyster that makes Rocha such a pearl. This season it was triggered by Justine Kurland’s 2020 photographic book Girl Pictures and the text “My Dress Rehearsal: or How Mrs. Clarke taught Me How to Sew” by Maureen Freely; both works consider the acute self-awareness that comes at the cusp of adolescence, and which to some extent never entirely recedes during adulthood. Rocha then crystalized that emotional state by applying it to an imagined moment. She said: “It’s this slightly teenage, debutante feeling, when you’re on display and you don’t really want to be there.”
Hence the venue, which doubled as both Rocha’s prom ballroom and a pomp-amplified metaphor for the adult world. Into it came a collection that met the room’s grandeur with its own grandiosity; skirts and dresses were amplified by crinoline, pannier, hooped trapeze, and even bustle. The rich fabrications included lush organzas, sateen georgette, silver sequins, and lustrous scalloped taffeta. And yet the poise of all these sophisticated and swooshy upholsteries was undermined by a series of awkward factors; wonkiness in the crinolines or the clumsily ostentatious necklaces, asymmetrically jumbled panniers that articulated with movement rather than stood rigorously to each side, trailing skirts, and bras haphazardly brimming over bandeaus.
Another dimension of acutely calibrated awkwardness was delivered through the blending into this womenswear show of a dozen or so menswear looks. These, like some womenswear pieces, often contained real lilies or pressed flowers in organza, and sometimes came layered within wraps of entirely transparent, or floral-printed plastic. A menswear suit in black whose jacket came with a built-in bouquet sash was a particularly beautiful arrangement. The suggestion was that the wearers, just like the flowers, had been hothoused for readiness and then wrapped for display and mutual regard. “I wanted this idea of giving and receiving,” said Rocha.
Further undermining the grand coutureness of this salon show was intimate naivety in touches, including the lacily edged pillow clutch bags and jacquard fabrics in softly acid ditsy floral patterns developed to mimic eiderdowns. Shoes included a new chisel toed ballet pump sneaker with a gentle wedge heel, and a freshly chaotic episode of Rocha’s ongoing collaboration with Crocs. This was a collection of clothes that disclosed vulnerability as much as they asserted resilience. Or as Rocha put it: “I wanted to propose a playful perspective on femininity, with all its twists and turns.”
