Thu 29th September
Rochas spring/summer show is an ode to insouciance – a casual, lighthearted lack of concern, especially for the stresses of day-to-day life. Let’s set the scene: the dawn is almost upon the cobblestone streets of the City of Love. Shadows are still camped around corners yet cast in a warm, ever-increasing light, a glow leftover from the sleepless afterparties that rocked around hours earlier. The fountains have stilled alas, the crisp spring air nibbles your skin and the gentle morning dew begins to glisten, just as the sun surpasses the fleeting cusp of day.
In these ephemeral hours, fresh, floral-adjacent gowns and twinsets emerge. Eccentric ruffles cascade up bed-bound bodies and drop back down to the dancefloor with all the drama of a party-going prima donna – the suggestive teased hair, sweat-smudged makeup and everything. Echoes of surrealist tenets are threaded into flouncy, tiered frocks with rose petal tutus and stratified capes rendered in an array of vivacious colours from fuchsia and curacao blue to golden yellow, silver and jet black. The collection feels subtly experimental, but like polished putty in creative director Charles de Vilmorin’s hands. While it may only be his third season at the Parisian maison, he has proven himself a material magician under the veil of such a decadent luxury label.
Elsewhere, a swaying tropical leaf motif douses a quintuple of dauntless tailored two-pieces and there are a slew of long plissé lamé gowns too, while billowing iridescent taffeta pouffes, crinolines and sheer blousons breathe beautifully through the first flush of morning. Feline illustrations are also scratched onto T-shirts and many looks are paired with platform-heeled, gladiator-style open-toe sandals – the footwear is sublime, but so is the whole collection.
Photography courtesy of Rochas.
