The British Fashion Award-winning designer, and sweetheart of the London fashion scene, has been announced as the next guest couturier at Jean Paul Gaultier …
Irish designer Simone Rocha is the next guest designer at Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture. The news was announced this morning via Rocha’s Instagram account, where she posted a bunch of flowers with a note sent by Gaultier congratulating her on her spring summer 24 collection at London Fashion Week – it also hinted at what’s to come next. It read: “And see you for your next one … in Paris!!!”
Not much information is known about the collaboration apart from the fact that the one-off collection will show during Paris Couture Week in January 2024. Previous designers who have guest-designed a haute couture collection for Gaultier include Julien Dossena, Creative Director at Paco Rabanne, who showed earlier this year, and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing in 2022. It will be interesting to see what happens when Rocha, who often draws upon Irish folklore and culture for her shows, brings her trademark sense of whimsy and cool-girl romance to the storied French couture house.
Rocha’s spring summer 2024 collection, which debuted at London Fashion Week this past Sunday, referenced – as well as a wedding dress rehearsal, a Crocs collaboration (divisive, but this writer is excited) and a love of roses – her Irish roots. A white installation in the venue depicted angels trumpeting. “The installation was my interpretation of the Little Ark of Kilbaha,” she told WWD, referring to a makeshift church in Co Clare in the 19th century that allowed congregants to practice their faith, even when it was forbidden. Titled ‘The Rehearsal’, the clothes in the collection were a very contemporary spin on modern bridal dressing (if that’s even what Rocha intended – probably not); diaphanous dresses came with roses sewn into them, there were some nods to dance through ballet flats (the venue was the rehearsal space for the English National Ballet) and there were even taffeta tracksuits. Given Rocha’s flair for intricate, next level detailing – from pearl-embellished footwear to crystal-studded socks – and decadence – see her use of sheer tulle and duchess satin – a cameo as a couturier makes perfect sense. No doubt, the cool girls will flock from London to Paris come the new year to watch Rocha’s take on Gaultier. Shall there be corsetry with frothy detailing? Conical bras remixed in pure white lace? Watch this space.
