The power of Simone Rocha lies in transforming femininity into a shield. The Irish designer doesn't merely craft "pretty" garments; she sculpts emotions. Her universe intertwines costume history, Victorian allusions, and a touch of raw modernity, forging a captivating tension between fragility and protection.
This season, volume reigns supreme. Layered tulle and crinkled organza sculpt expansive, ethereal silhouettes, grounded by utilitarian details or "chunky" soled footwear. The house's hallmarks are ever-present: pearls embroidered like skin jewels, exaggerated puff sleeves, and plays of transparency that reveal without fully exposing. It is a dreamlike fashion, yet resolutely wearable.
About this selection
{"type":"root","children":[{"type":"paragraph","children":[{"type":"text","value":"Having trained at the Royal College of Art in London after her studies in Dublin, Simone Rocha has, since its founding in 2010, built a house whose creative identity is as coherent and immediately recognizable as that of designers who have taken decades to find their voice. The singularity of her approach lies in a rare ability: to take the aesthetic codes most associated with a certain idea of fragile and ornamental femininity – pearl embroideries, layered tulles, puff sleeves, and delicate transparencies – and imbue them with a psychological tension and emotional density that transforms them into something fundamentally different from what they first appear to be. Femininity at Simone Rocha is never merely decorative; it is always a statement, and often, an armor.\n\nThe designer's Irish heritage, her intimate knowledge of historical costume acquired from the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and her sensibility to the most intricate Victorian references constitute the cultural material for a creative oeuvre that refuses to separate beauty from resilience, apparent fragility from true protection. The Women's SS26 collection pushes this exploration towards volumes that have never been so generous and so pronounced. Multi-layered tulle and crinkled organza, whose irregular folds create shifting light effects, sculpt voluminous and airy silhouettes. Their visual lightness deliberately contrasts with the grounded presence created by utilitarian details and the house's characteristic chunky soles. Pearls embroidered directly onto fabrics like skin jewels, exaggerated puff sleeves that simultaneously enlarge and protect the body, and plays of transparency that reveal without fully exposing, compose an aesthetic vocabulary of such richness and coherence that each Simone Rocha piece becomes a dreamlike and resolutely wearable object, designed for those who understand that the most powerful femininity is one that dictates its own terms.\n\nAt Actuel B, we offer a selection from the Simone Rocha women's collection, available in our Avignon and Arles boutiques, as well as on our website. Dresses, jackets, accessories, and shoes are presented by teams trained in the romantic and subversive universe of the house, with the personalized advice that characterizes our approach to multi-brand luxury."}]}]}