Simone Rocha on the importance of authenticity in fashion | C9W8KOS | 2024-01-04 23:21:28
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1651487081557-0'); }); Simone Rocha puts her whole self into her work
The designer discusses mastering her own voice, the art of collaboration and the importance of slowing down.
By Amy De Klerk
LAST DECEMBER saw the return of the Fashion Awards, the British Fashion Council's annual glittering celebration of the past 12 months, which recognises excellence in the industry and raises huge sums of money for emerging talent. Up for one of the biggest awards of the night, Womenswear Designer of the Year, was the Irish powerhouse Simone Rocha, who arguably has one of the most recognisable design signatures in fashion today – known as she is for her unapologetically feminine, romantic pieces that speak to the modern woman (and now, the modern man too). Off the back of numerous successful collaborations and growing responsibilities within her own business, Rocha reflects on how she has mastered her own voice, and why this has been key to her success.
"I think what is really important is that your brand identity has to genuinely be a part of you – it's an extension of you and your world – so putting it out there has to feel really natural," Rocha tells me, of how she's managed to build a brand that has such a strong sense of herself. "I think what gives it its power is that people can identify with you personally and I think all of that comes from a very specific identity. For me, that's what it's all about each season; [the designs are] evolving, sometimes you're moving forward, sometimes you are regressing, but it's all a language that feels very true to me."
Rocha says that, while she admires so many other London-based designers, she never lets their voice come into her dialogue – getting distracted by what others are doing is not something she worries about when her work is so personal to her.
CREATING new collections is actually the thing that gives me the ENERGY to KEEP PUSHING MYSELF
"My collections are always an extension of myself and this ethos of femininity, of modernity, and what that looks like today in reality. That is always on my mind when it comes to the underbelly of the collections," she explains. Indeed, there are few designers who have such a strong sense of what their brand is, and who their customer is, as Rocha does – and this is something that is reflected on each and every season, from the starting point of each collection through to execution and styling, whether commenting on love and romance or on Irish harvest traditions.
"Creating new collections is actually the thing that gives me the energy to keep pushing myself and moving forward with new ideas," she says when I ask her about the relentless fashion cycle (which currently sees her create both men's and women's collections twice a year, on top of various collaborative projects). "I think that is healthy, although it definitely can be tiring, but the day you struggle with new ideas is probably the day that the party is over because, while so much of the rest of it is really challenging, creating is the bit that should make you feel good, I believe."
It is really important for your BRAND IDENTITY to GENUINELY be a PART of YOU
As her brand has grown more and more recognisable, Rocha has found herself in high demand from other labels. Over the years, she has collaborated with Moncler's Genius line several times (in fact, she was part of the inaugural project), she created a headline-making sell-out collection for H&M, is currently working with Crocs, and is the latest designer to be chosen by Jean Paul Gaultier to create a couture collection for his house (which we will see early next year). Creative collaboration, it seems, is something she enjoys.
"It's a really good chance to stretch your mind in other directions," she says. "When I take on a collaboration, I always want it to be something where I can take my expertise to something new. Maybe that means doing something super high level with Moncler or perhaps super playful with Crocs, creating something en masse with H&M – which was like night and day compared with running an independent label – or really understanding a new way of working with Jean Paul Gaultier. Collaboration is just all about learning."
The upcoming collection with Gaultier will see her design couture for the very first time as she plays guest designer for the iconic brand. She follows in the footsteps of names such as Julien Dossena of Paco Rabanne and Olivier Rousteing of Balmain – and it will see Rocha put her spin on the label, as well as learn a completely new skill.
"What I have really learnt from the haute couture experience is to slow down, which has been amazing because ready-to-wear is such a fast pace. It's big collections – and I do women's and men's – so I am going 100 miles a minute. What has been amazing about doing haute couture is the slow down and the reset, physically speed-wise, because obviously it is all done by hand, but then also mentally to reset design-wise has been incredible. I have been forced to take a step back and consider each garment internally, externally, really explore it, because haute couture is about specific fits. That interaction with the body has been an incredibly stimulating experience."
We will have to wait a few more months to see what Rocha has in store for Gaultier, but what we do know is that the designer's instantly recognisable touches will be all over it. In a world currently obsessed with the enduring appeal of quiet luxury but always moving fast with trends, Rocha's perspective is unique and refreshing; truly great fashion – that which takes time to create and lasts a lifetime – is what she is all about designing. Through her work, we see that timeless fashion does not have to be quiet – it can be bold, loud and unapologetically feminine.
TIMELESS FASHION is about ALWAYS LOVING that piece – NO MATTER WHAT it is
"For me, timeless fashion is about always loving it – no matter what it is," she says. "It is always feeling connected to it – no matter what the season, what the weather – it just feels personally connected to you. It could be something that you wear all the time, or it could be something that you preserve, that you always come back and revisit – I think that's what is truly timeless to me."
This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR UK.
The post Simone Rocha on the importance of authenticity in fashion appeared first on Harper's Bazaar Australia.
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