Mood board: Since Simone Rocha presented her first collection during London Fashion Week in 2010, the designer has been lauded for cultivating an aesthetic that combines the girlish with the gothic, the romantic with the quietly rebellious. Louise Bourgeois, and her powerful interpretations of femininity – explored in artworks such as the 1946-47 painting series Femme Maison – has long inspired the designer. Bourgeois’ artworks are found in Rocha’s New York City store, and last February she created an imagined working uniform for the artist.
At an earlier stage in her life Bourgeois was known to wear blue clothing when she felt melancholic and pink when she felt happy, and these tones featured more notably than usual in Rocha’s collection, in shapes like pretty puffball dresses and opera coats. Bourgeois’ deeply personal sculptures also often featured an array of undergarments and so here gauzy dresses with fleshy layers had a nuance of négligée, while in a new take on styling, silk bra tops were layered over Rocha’s signature dresses and coats.
Best in show: A series of colourful graphic prints recalled the abstract octagonal forms Bourgeois outlined on the female figure in her 2002 fabric sculpture The Woven Child and her 2006 fabric book ‘Dawn’.
Team work: The diverse casting in the show was stellar, and post event, Instagram was awash with images of Rocha’s models walking in the runway finale. Catwalk veterans Chloë Sevigny, Jade Parfitt and Lily Cole all walked the catwalk, as did the cherubic rising talent Tess McMillan.
Simone Rocha A/W 2019.
-
‘I’ve considered every single detail’: how Victoria Beckham designed the perfect make-up brush collectionVictoria Beckham speaks to Wallpaper* about the meticulous design process behind her debut collection of make-up brushes, which perfectly treads a line between form and function
-
Can Maserati modernise or is the sun setting on one of Italy’s most beloved automotive brands?Maserati’s GranTurismo Folgore is an epic electric grand tourer without equal. If only its traditionalist customers wanted it more
-
Viviane Sassen considers fine art, fashion photography and fragility in ItalyViviane Sassen’s exhibition, 'This Body Made of Stardus' at Collezione Maramotti, spans two decades off Sassen's career
-
Inside Louis Vuitton’s Murakami London pop-up, a colourful cartoon wonderland with one-of-a-kind caféWallpaper* takes a tour of the Louis Vuitton x Murakami pop-up in London’s Soho, which celebrates the launch of a new ‘re-edition’ accessories collection spanning the greatest hits from the Japanese artist’s long-running collaboration with the house
-
Get to know Issey Miyake’s innovative A-POC ABLE line as it arrives in the UKAs A-POC ABLE Issey Miyake launches in London this week, designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae gives Wallpaper* the lowdown on the experimental Issey Miyake offshoot
-
Margaret Howell London Fashion Week Women's S/S 2019 -
London Fashion Week S/S 2023: Ahluwalia to Martine RoseThough slimmed-down, London Fashion Week nonetheless provided the moments of creative expression the city is known for – from Ahluwalia’s ode to Africa to Martine Rose’s much-anticipated runway return
-
Discover these fashion brands at London Craft WeekDuring London Craft Week, fashion brands including Smythson, Bally and Serapian are hosting events across the capital
-
London Fashion Week S/S 2022: eight important insights to know nowFashion brands are back with a bang in The Big Smoke. Here’s everything you need to know from London Fashion Week S/S 2022
-
Nicholas Daley's multicultural roots celebrated in London -
London Fashion Week A/W 2021: the future of post-pandemic dressingLondon Fashion Week's first digial only-offering imagined a wardrobe for life after lockdown, by brands including Burberry, Simone Rocha and Priya Ahluwalia
