Simone Rocha SS19

So spoilt for choice when it comes to design, we seem to be coming accustomed to the abundance of excellence on offer; young talent hatches by the hour, making stale fashion weeks vibrant again, and otherwise distant subcultures refresh on our feeds to become extensions of our own worlds. The trouble with this all-hours visual stimulus is that one excellent piece fades into another, consumed and then forgotten. But there’s one designer on the schedule whose work – no matter how far it drifts from her usual themes – always radiates an aura of being hers and hers alone; Simone Rocha, with a semblance of the ceremonial permeating every piece, can’t help but design from a deeply personal place. For SS19, her Irish upbringing, which has long played the lead in her designs, shares center stage with the Chinese side of her dual heritage. Puff-sleeved Catholic communion dresses are cast in heavy jet black taffeta and moss green floral brocades, their weight eased by breaths of liturgical lace. Portraits of concubines from the Tang dynasty informed the erratic embroideries etched urgently onto tabards, scalloped satin jackets and bulb-shaped mini dresses ruched and set askew. A damask jacquard Tang suit paired kneecap-grazing trousers with a sweeping flared top, set with a feather trim and bubble sleeves. Meanwhile, wispy crepe lined the body like lilac water, as belted blouson boiler suits cleansed the palate for a series of scarlet organza and copper gowns that bellowed from the bust. In a world where everything is on show and yet nothing is a spectacle, it’s our interior lives that Rocha renders remarkable. Without a sound, she can stun the world to silence.