Simone Rocha delves into her Spring/Summer 2023 show, which harnessed “all these different emotions that are boiling over inside of all of us at the moment” – and featured menswear for the first time
Orla Brennan: First off, I know you tend to stage your shows in beautiful historic buildings. Why are you showing in the Old Bailey?There’s all this beautiful green marble, and there’s almost a coldness and a severity to the space
that I felt really reflected the emotion behind the show. And especially [with] it being a building that signifies justice, I thought it would be a really great place to show this collection. OB: Many of your collections find inspiration in folklore, myth and literature. Is this collection inspired by a story?The last collection was very much centred around a story, whereas this collection is really about harnessing a feeling..
And the harness idea became a literal thing – we started strapping and harnessing dresses and the silhouettes, and distorting the fabrication by being almost rough with things that are naturally smooth. So yeah,OB: I love that idea of raw feeling translated into clothes, especially as your designs always have such an emotional pull to them. Was anything else on your mind this season?
SR: Honestly, I feel like everything has been so turbulent the last few years, and on many different levels. I was thinking about the reality of today, and channelling that into clothes. This one just kind of bubbled up from beneath and within actually.