Simone Rocha’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection shimmered in the darkness of London’s St. Bartholomew the Great Church. The Dublin-born designer had a bubbly white gown inspired by her experience giving birth to her second child. Its voluminous shape is reminiscent of those worn for Holy Communion. It was edged with an ivory satin ribbon and was trailing lightly over the old stone floor. There was her dress in creamy tulle babydoll iced with a delicate composition of pearls, and her knitted cardigan in Downy pointelle with bows. And what about the recurring, eye-catching motifs? Nursing bras rimmed with gems and jewelery have become as strange as they are precious in their utilitarian purpose.

Something in the collection was quintessential Rocha. Not only is its quirky beauty, yes, its slightly strangeness, its dark humor, but there is also a sense of something darker just below the surface, something that is uniquely associated with the female experience. It was created when she was “tired and tormented” to the point of being unbearable, she told me from the studio. “The implications of what people think is feminine and girly,” she explains. And then there’s what lies underneath, what women have historically been geared to keep hidden. She’s not afraid to dig deep.

Looking feminine in today’s world is itself a rebellious act. According to Rocha, who founded her brand in 2010, some of her clients say stepping into her work feels like wearing her armour, making them feel strong. (By the way, designers’ interest in Victorian fashion stems in part from the fascination with how they celebrated the female form, albeit restrictive, at a time when women had little voice. , Simone Rocha’s signature exaggerated voluminous gauze gowns, jackets with loose smocks and exaggerated puff sleeves, and pearl-embellished accessories are almost uniform and femme presence. The designer’s confidence and consistency in her aesthetic arguably owes to the fact that she grew up around fashion: Hong Kong-born, Dublin-based designer John Rocha’s As a daughter, she entered her first catwalk show when she was just three months old.

Rocha likens his design process to writing “chapters of the same story.” In fact, the fascinating side of her work draws on influences as diverse as those of Anne Boleyn and Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, weaving threads from all sorts of unexpected places into compelling narratives. But one of the designer’s most consistent influences is her Irish heritage. It comes across with a nod to Catholicism that permeates so much of her collection and her respect for her handiwork. Rocha’s trademark decorations are “like little sculptures” from the beginning of her design process. Her Fall/Winter 2022 collection takes Ireland’s legendary Children of Obril as a starting point, with stately stand-collar overcoats and loose biker jackets shaped like frilly wings. spread to

The designer’s latest project, besides raising two young daughters and preparing her next collection, of course, is Girls Girls Girls, a major group exhibition she curated at Lismore Castle Arts in Ireland. The exhibition, which runs until October 30, explores the female gaze through works by artists from across generations, naturally including conjoined twin paintings by artist Cassie Namoda and phallic bronzes by Louise Bourgeois. It has the Rochat-esque weirdness it deserves, featuring the work of . Janus in leather jacketIf she had not become a designer, she could have become an artist, and Bourgeois was one of her idols. ) What do designers admire most about her? , exposed it.”

Talented Rocha can easily describe herself.

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