Simone Rocha Made Moments of Merry, Mayhem, and the Macabre
Review of Simone Rocha Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Macabre, touch & tease, balletic
According to that most British of horticultural institutions i.e. Kew Gardens, Simone Rocha’s chosen inspiration for today – the Carnation – is a richly symbolic plant that has found meaning in “birth, death, love, rebellions, God, and socialism”. Red equates to love but also labour movements and was used throughout the show. While it won’t be lost on the crowd in attendance that a green carnation symbolises homosexual love once worn by Oscar Wilde, surprisingly that exact flower also made an appearance later that evening at Erdem.
Today the designer revealed her muse in artist Genieve Figgis, known for her macabre paintings which mock the luxurious pursuit of leisure. Exposing the masquerade of idealised country living often depicted in art history throughout the centuries she chooses to reframe her subjects with grimacing faces, as they would have appeared to have been enjoying the joys of spring otherwise. Last season there was a subtle sense of the macabre in Rocha’s work as gargoyle-esque plush bags replete with flashing ruby eyes were part of her accessories line-up. This season Rocha reworked Figgis’s paintings into bodysuits aligning with another underlying theme which appeared to be the ‘Black Swan’ film (a black bird became a clutch worn by one model). In her show notes the designer spoke of the fact that “The show opens with the moments between perfection and progress – leading up to the performance.” And while the oversized tutus and delicate tulle could have represented the perfection of the ballet of which she spoke, her twee knitted cardigans that appeared to have been hacked into – gaping holes were cut into the fronts to reveal “embellished breasts” – could have nodded to signs of progress in imperfection.
Rocha’s collection of fanciful froths and highly touchable tinsel twinsets, as well as crystal embellishments were a way to seductively test the “relationship between the sexes” as her surface decoration is sure to encourage the act of pleasing and teasing via touch.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Florals for spring may not be considered ‘New, News’ but that most humble of flowers – the carnation- and its varied symbolism allowed the designer to rework it into ideas around light and dark – screams, laughter, cry’s, and flirtations according to the show notes. And with a darker take on summer which traversed all the human emotions Rocha performed a fitting move on from her triptych series which culminated last season.
