Simone Rocha Unveils Whimsical Faux Fur Inspired Autumn/Winter 2024 Show in London

Text by Ethan Hall

Shortly after hosting her couture show for Jean Paul Gaultier, Simone Rocha has returned to London to present her Autumn/Winter 2024 Collection. Locating the show in Bartholomew's Church in London, Rocha is presenting an ode to her Catholic heritage that influences her work so greatly as the backdrop to the collection.

The collection was opened by the song “All Apologies” by the artist O Lethe, which transfers to a classical song halfway through the show. The former song is an ethereal reflection of the collection, which is demonstrated in the juxtaposition of the gentle and pretty vocals and dark gothic ambience of the guitar and bass.

This season, Simone presented under a whimsical theme of animals and faux fur. This collection is a new venture for Rocha, as it is heavily populated by fur garments, which previously has been relatively untouched by Rocha. In league with this theme we see the models down the runway with fun little fur animal shaped handbags.

A varied selection of footwear came down the runway for Rocha’s show. We see her classic silhouettes and embellishments but we also see more serious, gothic and chunky shoes. The most significant shoe to come down in this show was the SR collab with Crocs, a very chunky shoe with a thick, high sole adorned with classic SR style pearls and metallic embellishments.

On a similar note, Rocha sent down chunky Moonboot style shoes with embellishments akin to that of the Crocs. In line with the fur motif, there were cow fur heels and loafers, however, and more importantly, there were heels that had long fur draping down from them - creating a strange image, where the model is walking with what looks like a hairy caterpillar on their feet.

The show was opened by a striking look comprised of pale sheer fabrics and a fur around the model’s shoulders. The contrast between the fabrics and the fur brought heightened attention to the fur, foreshadowing the theme of fur throughout the show.

The most notable fur garment is the long, beautiful, majestic pelt that falls beautifully around the body, which only reveals a slit of the right arm and a fraction of the left arm. Adorned on top of this pelt on the left shoulder is a large ribbon crafted from fur that falls down the front of the garment. The fur motif permeated into Rocha’s usual patterns as she replaced the flower patterns with the fur in a basic animal pattern over a sheer fabric garment.

Despite her new ventures of creativity in this collection, Rocha still caters to her fans as the long list of her archetypal techniques and palette. These two looks below are classic Simone Rocha pieces, ticking all the boxes for her colours, sheer fabrics, corsetry, ribbons, flowery patterns and inflated silhouettes. The notable takeaway from this collection is that Simone is adept and venturing into paths of her creativity while still always hitting the mark with what people expect from a Simone Rocha show.