Simone Rocha recently showcased her co-ed Spring/Summer 2024 collection, titled “The Dress Rehearsal,” at the English National Ballet HQ, located in a newly developed area in the east of London. The collection, a blend of romance, whimsy, and practicality, unveiled a series of garments inspired by roses, wedding cakes, and the 19th-century mobile church, the Little Ark of Kilbaha, making it a winning proposition that held true to Rocha’s brand of dreamy, homespun femininity.
The Spring/Summer 2024 collection of Simone Rocha manifested a variety of inspirations, starting from the prominent theme of roses which was depicted in 3-D whorls of fabric and then progressed to real, long-stemmed pale pink roses stuffed inside sheer garments. This created an ethereal and romantic visual of fresh pink roses trapped under tulle. One of the highlight pieces was a pink satin mini-dress, which resembled an entire rose bud itself.
As the collection progressed, the theme transitioned from roses to birthday or wedding cakes, displaying swagged effects imitating old-fashioned icing sugar prettily rendered across bouncy crinolines and, in one instance, running across the entirety of a men’s marching shirt and shorts combo. This theme was further emphasized with the use of crystal-studded socks, jet-beaded hair bows with long streamers, and dresses with bell-shaped skirts.
Adding depth to the collection, Rocha introduced dry, papery fabrics like frosted nylon for balloon-sleeved windbreakers and lustrous duchess satin gathered like curtains to create austere dresses with folds around the throat. The collection was not just limited to women’s wear; the menswear included modern-day, streetwise-savvy pieces such as black parkas slickened with glossy garlands and camp shirts festooned with what Rocha referred to as “cotton icing.”
Rocha also drew inspiration from the Little Ark of Kilbaha, a mobile church in 19th-century Ireland where people congregated on the beach when the tide went out. She created a white framed structure adorned with trumpeting angels in the blackened space, interpreting it as her version of the historic mobile church.
The show took place in a conventional manner, with 51 models filing around four sides of a rectangle, wearing a mix of chunky platforms, heavy Crocs, and ballet flats, contrasting the ethereal and romantic themes of the collection with a touch of practicality.
Read more: David Koma Spring/Summer 2024 – London Fashion Week
©Photo: Simone Rocha
