SIMONE Rocha has created a distinctive name for herself in the world of fashion design. Rocha’s collection for LFW SS19 certainly reflected her personal distinctiveness, and indeed felt quite different from anything that even Rocha herself had previously produced.
The 32-year-old designer addressed this difference after her show, explaining that for the first time, the inspiration for her collection was not the Irish influence of her mother and upbringing, but the Chinese side of her heritage. Of this collection, Rocha said, “It’s about me being half Chinese. I was looking at my whole family, they’re very much my team and I decided to reflect that.”
This Chinese influence was most strikingly obvious in the oversized headpieces that many of the models wore down the runway. Referencing those worn during China’s 300-year-long Tang Dynasty, the wide-brimmed hats were covered with embroidered and lace-trimmed veils which hung down to the models’ shoulders.
The collection’s footwear was equally distinctive; elaborate feathers bursting from every side of many of the shoes made them look the height of luxury.
Indeed, it was a comprehensive attention to detail that really characterised Rocha’s collection. While a number of the pieces were heavily monochrome, calling up images of Yin and Yang, and others seemed to reference the colours of the Chinese flag with block red and gold colours, the detailed flower designs on many of the dresses were an important and consistent design feature.
Flowing uninterrupted from under the models’ arms, some of the dresses resembled long bell skirts, however it was those inspired by Chinese oil portraits that really stood out.
“The paintings were 16th century concubine paintings,” explains Rocha. “I found these paintings in an antique market in Hong Kong, and we decided to interpret them ourselves. We did our own paintings similar to the ones I’d found and we used those for the clothes.”
Rocha’s celebration of her heritage in her SS19 collection, which, based upon a time and place that could feel very distant from LFW, nonetheless offered designs which felt exciting and relevant.
by Hannah Valentine