Mood board: For A/W 2020, Rocha looked to the 1904 play Riders to the Sea by John Millington Synge. The play, set in the Aran Islands, captures the loss experienced by Mauyra, a grief-stricken wife and widow who loses her husband and five sons to the sea. ‘It was about birth, life and loss,’ Rocha said backstage of a collection split into three sections, like a procession of eveningwear, tailoring and knitwear that summated on the patchwork of experience, through deconstructed Aran knits which trailed from the body like nautical ropes, scallop edged nightgowns, ceremonial coats with satin bows and gauzy rose print and sacred heart embroidered dresses. ‘You can’t look at Ireland and not look at Catholicism’, she added.
Finishing touches: ‘I wanted the whole collection to be layered and tied with things taken from the sea,’ Rocha said. This meant shoppers strung from beaded pearls and macramé net bags with huge pearl clutches inside. Rocha’s signature pearl and beaded earrings were ultra long, like strings of bounty found inside shipwrecks.
Best in show: A series of bridal looks closed the collection, with models sporting ceremonial lace veils and beaded headbands. The pieces referenced a funeral procession in Riders to the Sea, but instead of imagining the looks in mourning black, Rocha opted instead for lustrous ivory. ‘Life isn’t so final, that’s why the looks aren’t black,’ she concluded. An uplifting end to the third day of London Fashion Week. §
