The backyard garden in Dublin where Simone Rocha used to drink with friends, used for her S/S 13 show invite
At the Simone Rocha S/S 13 show, there were real tears in my eyes. No joke. I'm not entirely sure why. I'm going to primarily blame it on the fact that it was the last day of London fashion week and that I was so tired at that point, my tear ducts were overproductive just to remind me that my body it was active. It could have been down to the Stone Roses' I Wanna Be Adored soundtrack washing over me with waves of nostalgia, pining in my teensy tiny boxy bedroom, wondering when girl's school life would get better. Can you already tell that I've been watching a tad too much of that E4 programme My Mad Fat Diary (I kind of rate it… if only for the realistic throwback to British teenage life in the nineties)? Oh god, is today in fact just turning into one big "i miss secondary school" love fest?
I'm going off-piste here. The confession that I'm not supposed make is that I was actually getting all teary-eyed from witnessing Rocha's sweet and sentimental-laden layers coming down the runway contrasting soft and hard - delicate lace window panes looking out of snow white tweed followed by metallic gold leather, nubbly neon daisy lace and matching perspex laser-cut box totes, the neutral jelly of pale yellow latex against lurex crochet, rough hewn hessian-esque tweed and beige patent. I could go on but that would be verging on fabric and texture porno speak. Suffice to say, if there was a moment of soaring harmony where ambiance, clothing and the designer herself all went together hand in hand, the Simone Rocha was it. You could put it down to the fact that Rocha is a girl but she nailed that natural longing in so many girls I know, of wanting to look beautiful in layers that spoke volumes, without giving up twinges of boyishness and masculinity. Grass stains, beer spills and perhaps a tear or two - that's what these dresses are destined to see.
Rocha has made big strides season upon season, to the point where you can almost see a gaggle of girls holding their candles up in the air, waving them like they just don't care, religiously devoted to Rocha's output. I'm one of them. "I wanna be adored…" Wish granted. Rocha doesn't need Ian Brown to fight her corner. She already is adored.
One moment in Simone's showroom with this finale coral daisy showstopper was enough to set the heart a-thumping... S/S 13 hasn't landed in stores just yet but I'll be eyeing it all up in due course... **EDIT** A reader duly corrected me on this. The all-powerful, all-seeing Net-a-Porter do have the SS13 collection in (although not the magnificent voluminous coat that I'm wearing) and if you're in London, it is also in Dover Street Market.
