John Rocha
SS 12
John Rocha immersed the audience at Somerset House in the imaginative world of painters Pierre Soulages and Hank Williams, ensuring great showmanship and a lasting dramatic effect.
Supermodel Abbey Lee Kernshaw set the tone as she opened the show resembling a serene woodland creature in a black feather voluminous dress.
Rocha directed the Spring / Summer12 collection towards familiar grounds. Yet again playing with volume, experimenting with the female shape, and textures.Combining all the right elements in a most poetic fashion.
The exquisite craftsmanship perfectly channeled the designers mythical warriors who swayed most angelic down the catwalk in lengthy twisted feather horns.
The mainly monochrome collection was broken by splashes of honey gold tones in stark contrast to the wave of colourful patterns seen in New York the previous week.
Using traditional corsetry techniques Rocha created a strong, and directional silhouette that was both fragile and hard.
The black fringing, strands and feathers mixed with delicate knits, tufted lace and supreme tailoring resulted in pieces that once deconstructed have potential to become sure wardrobe favorites in women’s closets for years to come.
Fernando Torres