Simone-Rocha

SIMONE ROCHA

Simone Rocha, daughter of John Rocha, Irish designer of Chinese-Portuguese origin

Index

  1. The Origin
  2. First Steps in the Fashion World
  3. Awards and Recognitions
  4. Simone’s style

The Origin

Simone Rocha, born in Dublin in 1986, is the daughter of John Rocha, an Irish designer of Chinese-Portuguese origin, who was elected Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to the fashion industry in his country.

Simone took her first steps in the fashion world in her father’s atelier, which was initially opposed to her daughter’s choice to follow in his footsteps. At the age of eleven Simone began to learn the secrets of dressmaking; at fourteen she became an assistant and at only seventeen she was already working closely with her parents.

Simone Rocha and John Rocha
Simone Rocha and John Rocha

It is John himself, after his daughter’s insistence, to invite her to study in the prestigious Central Saint Martin College of Art and Design in London, where he taught Louise Wilson.

First steps into the world of fashion

In 2012, just two years after graduating, Simone Rocha debuted her first collection during London Fashion Week.

Simone Rocha First Collection Fall 2012Mame Fashion Dictionary: Simone Rocha First Collection Fall 2012
Simone Rocha First Collection Fall 2012

In 2014 he signed an agreement with the American label J Brand, for which he designed fourteen denim garments with a romantic allure, united by details in ruffles.

Awards and Recognitions

Simone Rocha SS 18
Simone Rocha Spring / Summer 18

In 2013 she was awarded at the British Fashion Awards as an Emerging Talent in ready-to-wear and in 2014 she received the “The New Establishment Award”, a prize organized by the British Fashion Council.

Most recently, during the 2016 Fashion Awards, she received the British Womenswear Designer Award and the Harper Bazaar Designer of Year Award 2016.

The style of Simone Rocha

His fashion brand enters the world’s most influential boutiques: 10 Corso Como in Milan, Dower Street Market, Colette in Paris, Ikram in Chicago, Browns, Seoul and Shanghai. In February 2017, she opened her first store in New York, in the popular Soho district.

It was the designer herself who decorated the interior of the shop, introducing works by Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeoise and Ren Ri into its spaces.

Simone Rocha Summer 2018
Simone Rocha Summer 2018

The foundations of her style caress the feminine romanticism of the Victorian era forged by lace and pearls. Her creativity is stimulated by the couturiers of the past such as Christian Dior or more contemporary ones such as Rei Kawakubo – founder of Comme des Garçons – and John Rocha himself, whom she defines as “her legacy”.

Her creative visions also include Irish landscapes, which she later translated into embroidered textures on fabrics that evoke tales of a bygone era. Just like the autumn/winter 2016-17 collection presented at Lancaster House in London, which saw the triumph of embroidery on unstructured garments.

Simone Rocha Benedetta Barzini Fall 2017 Collection
Simone Rocha Benedetta Barzini Fall 2017 Collection

Simone loves to play with classicism, readapting it in a modern key; the volumes adopted reverberate in the years between the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s, exasperating them with strategic embossing and ruffles.

The Irish designer’s aestheticism also explores the world of tailoring with doubled garments, with internal and external seams, to exaggerate the oversized volumes of her clothes.

Spring/Summer 2017 Collection
Spring/Summer 2017 Collection

The spring/summer 2018 collection, structured with a generous impalpable silhouette, tells of a multifaceted femininity, sensual, graceful but veraciously sensual. The collection, in September 2017, was shown at London’s Middle Temple.

Recently

It was in 2020 when Rocha joined the collective of designers who embraced Remo Ruffini’s Moncler Genius project. Among them was Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino.

In 2021, Simone and H&M signed a partnership for a capsule collection that sold out immediately. The Irish designer offers oversized trench coats, bows and tulle, in line with her creativity.

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