Words by Marissa Cox.
We couldn’t wait to get our mitts on an invite for Simone Rocha’s show. So, when one landed on our doormat, we immediately asked if we could do a little post-show interview with her. Simone has been gaining momentum since she graduated from her MA at Saint Martins. This season she’s been on every fashion editor’s list as one to watch and featured in various magazines as one of the hottest collections for spring. With so much already accomplished, it’s hard to believe that SS12 is only her third show since she left university.
It took place on Sunday, in a strikingly romantic room at 33 Portland Place. Dressed in dark wood, soft pink and green striped and flowery wallpaper, and finished with sultry chandeliers that hung from the pink, green and white stuccoed ceiling, it was the perfect setting for Simone to showcase her designs. Inspired by the artist Louise Bourgeois, they beautifully balanced the masculine with the feminine, and featured sheer fabrics, white lace, pinks and neon greens, plastics and rubber. She mixed masculine cuts, tailored shirts and structured silhouettes with pretty fragile white and black lace and coloured transparent fabrics. Models waltzed through the L-shaped room to whimsical classical music composed by her brother Max, in her utterly covetable black, white and jewel green and pink Perspex heeled brogues, which we’re sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of in the Spring. It was a real family affair, with her proud parents John Rocha and his wife Odette sitting front row.
(Scroll down for interview)
Amongst the post-show gushing and hugging with friends, we managed to grab her under the stairwell of all places, for an interview.
Here are our quick-fire questions:
AW: What would you do if you weren’t a designer?
SR: I would be in a band playing the tambourine.
AW: What’s your first memory of clothes?
SR: These big rooms filled with rolls of fabric, if I’m honest.
AW: Who inspires you outside of the fashion industry?
SR: The artist Louise Bourgeois who inspired the collection.
AW: What music gets you going, or what do you work to?
SR: Talking heads, Hank Williams, Metronomy. It depends! Country and then hip hop – Beastie Boys. It’s usually country or hip hop.
AW: Who was the last band you saw live?
SR: I went to Glastonbury and saw Pulp and Beyonce.
AW: Where would you like to grow old?
SR: Ireland. In Dublin or in the countryside.
AW: What do you do to unwind?
SR: Drinking cans with friends.
AW: And finally we have the much-loved Minnie at Art Wednesday HQ. Do you have a furry friend?
SR: I do! A Daxi called Rufus.
To visit Simone’s website [click here]
Photo by Neil Gavin.