BEAUTY: Clothing--Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha is riding high after being the most recent guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier. Since Gaultier retired, the house is hosting a rotating cast of artistics to reinterpret the Gaultier catalog (see my post about creative director of Balmain Olivier Rousteing's turn here) and Rocha's Fall Winter '24-'25 collection at London Fashion Week continued a Gaultier vibe. Interestingly, while she was allowed to go through the Gaultier archives to create her collaboration with the house (she delights in the fact that the Gaultier vault keeps garments in boxes they actually refer to as coffins!), she was allowed to view the mourning dress of Queen Victoria in the British royal archive at Hampton Court palace. Victoria of course wore only black after the death of her husband Albert...for the rest of her life, all forty years of it (what a love!). The confluence of history from two different sources along with her own creative juices gave birth to this collection titled "The Wake" which was aptly presented in the circa 12th century St. Bartholomew’s Church. It was a co-ed show but I am only showing the menswear here. Reflective of the period she was evoking, jackets sported twin shooting patches in faux fur or glass beading, a pair of Wellies were jeweled with pearls, and there was lots and lots of mourning black in silhouettes of a wistful, historical feeling.

https://www.simonerocha.com