Mood board: Citing the influence of American artist Louise Bourgeois - nicknamed Spiderwoman for her most famous sculptures - structure was of particular importance to Simone Rocha this season. She toyed with clothes' attachment to the body, padding her scalloped velvet opening looks, before backless lace sheaths clung on by threads. Rocha's dark tapestry prints - which were ruffled into apron dresses showcasing her signature blend of saccharine and sophisticated - also neatly linked to Bourgeois, whose family owned a tapestry factory.
Scene setting: The Irish designer has a habit of turning a fashion show into a religious experience, and her choice of Guildhall's medieval surrounds with its Gothic windows and stone arched roof, took that pilgrimage one step further.
Best in show: Ceremonially draped, ruffled tweed looks spoke directly to her on-site fan base, while fringes of hair, perhaps borrowed from kilt sporrans, became Rochas' latest enrichment fetish, adorning the shoulders of her voluminous evening coats or acting as modesty patches on tulle lace numbers.
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
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In memoriam: Paolo Portoghesi (1931 - 2023)
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Cindy Sherman’s freaky new portrait collages dissect the divided self
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