Simone Rocha’s catwalks never fail to be full of character, and her A/W 25 collection is no exception.
Rocha gave Childhood Nostalgia at London Fashion Week with Alexa Chung, Bel Powley and Fiona Shaw. Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare”, a loved tale from our childhood, was one of the inspirations behind this collection. Her signature feminine looks were accessorised with fluffy hares, reminiscent of childhood toys, carried under the arm or draped around the neck, and ceramic tortoises held in hand. To her, the story is about “telling your story in your own way and being comfortable in your own skin”, which seems very coherent to the brand’s identity, and the people who buy from them.
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The season’s menswear brought about some personal nostalgia for Rocha, adding a rebellious twist on the school uniforms she recalls from her childhood in Dublin, adding frills to rugby shirts and bulky chained belts to knee length shorts.
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Toy animals and school uniforms were not the only thing bringing back memories, the runway was set in Goldsmith’s Hall, which also hosted Rocha’s autumn/winter 2018 show. Since the brands debut London Fashion Week in 2010, her collections are known to be shown in “some of the most historically and culturally relevant buildings”, like the Tate Modern, The Royal Academy of Art and The English National Ballet Mulryan Centre of Dance.
Simone Rocha loves to polarise looks, by adding both feminine and masculine elements, on both men and women. The models walked the runway head to toe in bows (another iconic motif) faux fur, tulle, leather, denim, mixed with ribbons galore, metal and pearls. Alexa Chung walked in a brown faux fur cropped top, paired with a black oversized leather jacket, and Fiona Shaw in a long black dress shaped with chain and padlock.
The overall collection is very fitting with the brands identity in modern femininity, having coherent motifs through most of the previous collections.
