TLM10: NEW DESIGNERS - SIMONE ROCHA
Sweet yet subversive, Simone Rocha’s Spring 2013 collection delves into the idea of “youth, in all its purity and unruliness.” It was a fitting inspiration for a designer still in the throes of youth herself. The 26-year-old Central Saint Martins grad began her creative journey as an artist but soon found herself following in the footsteps of her father, designer John Rocha. Now, after earning her master’s in 2010, Rocha’s Spring 2013 collection is the one that has firmly established her as one of London’s hottest emerging designers.
Rocha took her inspiration for the season from photographs by Ed Templeton of teenagers kissing and Cy Twombly’s plasterwork cakes smudged with green and pink. On the runway, these starting points translated into prim tailoring, sweet lace, and crisp collared shirts that evoked nostalgia for schoolgirl days in a more innocent time. The theme was modernized by plays on volume, cutaway panels, neons, and unexpected fabrications like embroidered plastics, shiny patents, and oversized lace daisies. Rocha finished off the looks with her take on classic shoes—pumps, courts, and brogues, all elevated on clear Perspex shelves.
Makeup by Junko Kioka at Joe Management. Hair by Marki Shkreli at Artlist. Models: Mackenzie Drazan and Monika Sawicka at Marilyn.