It’s been thirteen years since Simone Rocha’s debut with Fashion East, where her fresh-outta-CSM, Louise Bourgeois-coded collection first caught the attention of discerning eyes. Simone, though, considers her third collection (AW12) her first ‘proper’ one, shown off-schedule at Portland Place. A decade on from this pivotal moment, the designer decided to start working on a book – and what better way to mark a decade of Simone Rocha than a heavy, heartful hardback charting her work, her constellation of influences and abundant collaborations.
Launching next week on October 1st, Simone Rocha (Rizzoli) is divided into five sections that correspond to key subjects in her oeuvre. First up is ‘Pretty Perverse,’ the streak running through Simone’s work that she describes as “the tease, the femininity underscored with perversion.” Then there’s ‘Éirinn Go Brách’ (Ireland Forever) which delves into the influence of the designer’s homeland on the brand. ‘Pony Kids’ explores the multitude of influences on her work, ‘Respect Your Elders’ features heartfelt ruminations on Simone’s Irish, Portuguese and Chinese family while ‘Girls and Boys’ cracks open the gender trouble that simmers away in her designs.
It wouldn’t be a Simone Rocha extravaganza without a host of cultish stars. Chloë Sevigny, Petra Collins and Precious Okoyomon all cameo in the book, while fashion veterans Tim Blanks, Adrian Joffe (husband of Rei Kawakubo and President of Dover Street Market) and Anna Wintour (yes, you read right) all take time to sing her praises. Her parents John and Odette Rocha are in there; there is even an interview with Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, who is lionised for her human rights advocacy .
The result is an intimate testament to the depth and expansiveness of Simone’s world: a past, present and future community of family, friends and influences. A couple of weeks before the launch of Simone Rocha, the designer shared the stories behind six of the book’s images that each represent a key dimension of her work.
1. Close Collaborations
“This image by Jacob Lillis feels so signature and significant to me. We have been collaborating together for nearly a decade. It was important to me when I started showing the collections for them to be documented in this way. Not focusing on the femininity in them but the realism that also influences my work. His work is honest and has always felt so weighted to me. Picking up on the human who is wearing the pieces.”
2. Ireland Forever
“This is a picture by Colin Dodgson, a friend and collaborator. We went to Dublin, my hometown, and drove from the mountains to the sea with Kiki [Willems] in the back of the car, stopping along the way for Colin to take pictures. Narratives of my collections often stem from Ireland, so I wanted to photograph the collection there. I’ve always adored this picture.”
3. Teenage Desire
“The book also has imagery from artists and photographers who have inspired me and that I admire. I was obsessed with Ed Templeton’s Teenage Kissers as a teenager and then in my 20s, maybe trying to hold on to my teens. The naivety, the desire – the clumsiness of it all – was very influential to my first collections.”
4. Homeland Heroes
“The words of [former Irish President] Mary Robinson and the images from the opening of [Perry Ogden’s 1997 exhibition] Pony Kids in Dublin were a big part of my childhood. To have Mary contribute to the book, a woman who I admire in all the work she has done and continues to do, and to then hear her speak about dress and identity, feels like a privilege to have in the book.”
5. The Art of Letting Go
“This editorial was the first where I felt my collection was totally captured without my input. It was by Patrick Demarchelier and Katie Grand, and I was blown away by the images. It was pivotal to me to see the next step of the cycle after I’ve shown and shared the collection, and how it can be in someone else’s hands. [To understand that] it’s all part of the process.”
6. Creative Exchange
“This letter from the artist Sophie Barber felt like such a present and was a more recent moment for me. I didn’t want to just make a picture book. I wanted text, emotion, documentation – that exchange.”
Text: Simone Rocha
Introduction and interview: Eilidh Duffy