What Simone Rocha is known for
Irish-born, London-based womenswear label founded 2010 by designer Simone Rocha (born Dublin, daughter of designer John Rocha), debuting on the London runway that year. Known for pearl embellishment, tulle, and subversive-feminine silhouettes; flagships in London, New York, and Taiwan.
Simone Rocha grew up inside fashion — daughter of Dublin designer John Rocha — and born in 1986, emerged from Central Saint Martins under Louise Wilson in 2010 with a language already her own: femininity examined rather than performed. Tulle in weather-cloud volumes, pearls used like punk studs, broderie anglaise cut with something unsettling underneath — critics reach for "subversive romance" because nothing shorter fits.
London made her its laureate: British Womenswear Designer of the Year, a Mount Street flagship since 2015 — with New York and Taiwan following — and shows — often in churches — that read as Irish gothic ceremonies, Aran knits and communion dresses refracted through desire and discomfort. The pearl-embellished accessories, especially the Egg bag and hair clips, carried the aesthetic to every continent.
Her H&M collaboration sold out in hours; her guest couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier in 2024 confirmed the ateliers take her as seriously as the street does. Menswear, launched 2023, extends the argument: prettiness, in Rocha's hands, is a form of power with teeth.
How ORBIS reads this city
Best for — Tulle, bows, and pearl-punk romantic fashion from Dublin
More in London
- Alexander McQueen — London
- Augustinus Bader — London
- Budd Shirtmakers — London
- Burberry — London
- Cad & The Dandy — London
- Charles Tyrwhitt — London
- Drake's — London
- Emma Willis — London
Where next
- Wales Bonner — London
- Victoria Beckham — London
- Elie Saab — Paris
Hand-curated for ORBIS · no paid placement