Simone Rocha Debuted as Jean Paul Gaultier's Guest Designer for Haute Coutre Week in Paris

Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com, sourced from the Vogue Runway website

Simona Rocha debuted as Jean Paul Gaultier’s most recent guest designer at Haute Couture Fashion Week, showcasing her mastery of fashion design. She displayed her collection in the sprawling Jean Paul Gaultier headquarters, with guests including Anna Wintour, Kylie Jenner, Baz Luhrmann and beloved fashion editor Lynn Yaeger, among others. She designed just over the 35-look minimum required to show at Haute Couture week, displaying 36 looks on the runway.

Gaultier retired from his eponymous brand in 2020, and since then, has selected different designers to head the house’s couture shows every year. Past designers included Sacai’s Chitose Abe, Diesel’s Glenn Martens, Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, Haider Ackermann and Paco Rabanne’s Julien Dossena. Rocha used enticing accents throughout this collection–dangling ribbons, ruffles, voluminous sleeves, side hoops reminiscent of 18th century attire and flower appliques, all referencing staples of Rocha’s work.

The opener was a midi length nude dress showcased impeccable snake embroidery along the chest, cuffs, back of the shoulders and hemlines, with visible side hoops. In an interview between Rocha and Gaultier with Highsnobiety, Rocha said she wanted the embroidery “to almost become hardware, like armor. And how the armor would also connect to this idea of the lingerie and the corsetry and how they’re harnessing and protecting the body, but also exposing and celebrating the body...”

The vivid snake embroidery motif contrasts with the dainty sheer fabrics, which brings an edge to the dresses, adding that Gaultier flare. The accessory that topped off the snake dress was the human hair bow earrings. Rocha took an aspect of her coquette design aesthetic and brought it to its most literal iteration, which spurred many online reactions. Popular fashion writer and TikToker Mandy Lee posted a DIY of the accessories on her account.

Other accessories included Rocha-fied Gaultier sailor hats, laced pastel pink gloves, silver leaves and beaded motifs, like on gloves and dangling trims. Another nod to Gaultier’s iconic archive was Rocha’s sixth and 16th looks, two variations of a blazer-skirt combo with Gauliter’s cone bra design famously worn by pop icon Madonna.

The final look, a tulle bubble hem dress with a nude veil that sweeps the floor, model Kiki Willems looked ethereal. Rocha told AnOther Magazine, “I wanted it to feel really light and modern and really set in today.” Gaultier chose Rocha for this collection because he was familiar with her father, John Rocha’s work, citing that Simone Rocha has a “big heritage of fashion,” and would be a good fit with which to work.

Simone Rocha graduated from Central Saint Martins with a Fashion MA degree and debuted at London Fashion Week in September 2010. She’s previously collaborated with J Brand, Moncler, and H&M, being the latter brand’s Designer Collaborator for 2021. In the Highsnobiety interview, Rocha said she wanted this collection to feel “provocative, playful, sensual, historic, scientific,” which she accomplished greatly.

She seamlessly blended her personal coquette design aesthetics of puffy silhouettes and femininity well with Gaultier’s staple sheer fabrics and corsetry, a nod to his vast archive. She modernizes, let’s say, with twists, bringing together different cultures - biker and romantic,” Gaultier said in Highsnobiety. “It’s this kind of thing that I love, what we have in common, but each of us do it in our own way.”

Article by Daryl Perry, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine

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