Jean Paul Gaultier collection by Simone Rocha
When you combine a French couture house with an Irish-Chinese pagan feminist, what do you get? The solution is Simone Rocha, Jean Paul Gaultier’s most recent “guest” designer.
Simone Rocha is behind the latest collection of Jean Paul Gaultier
When Simone Rocha was living in Dublin and working for her designer father, John, the name Jean Paul Gaultier mattered a lot to her since it was associated to powder pink, satin, conical bras, and perfume bottles shaped like corsets that were packaged in aluminum cans.
The fact that eight months ago Gaultier asked her to take on the role of guest designer for the extraordinary project he started when he announced his retirement from fashion with his Spring 2020 couture collection is testament to how far she has come in her career. He has since selected a new designer every season to interpret his legacy in their own way.“It’s a bit pretentious”, cautiously responds Gaultier, “because it means I feel I have enough codes and enough style that others can be inspired by it, or break it, or do what they want.”
However, thus far, his concept has received brilliant support from individuals such as Glenn Martens and Haider Ackerman, indicating an endless source of motivation. Simone Rocha, the sixth guest, offers her own JPG Redux on a Wednesday in Paris.
She was fitting model Guinevere Van Seenus in an ethereal froth of balletic tulle in the Gaultier atelier a few days prior. It is held in place by straps and harnesses, resembling a glittering form of bondage and fetishistic elements common to both Gaultier and Rocha’s designs. She comes over to show me the belt that runs under the bodice and has a daisy motif made of rhinestones. Because of how well the eyelets are incorporated into the design, the ornamental belt serves as a functional accessory as well. “Absolutely amazing!” Rocha gives a gleeful squeal.
Consider the traditional pincé technique, for instance. A magnificent black taffeta gown has thousands of delicate stems emerging from it, topped off by tiny flowers that are actually twisted feathers. Spencer exclaims, “We had two men come in with plume options.” “Experts in plumes!” Rocha requested that they be covered in her trademark shade of blood red.
Gaultier recalls John Rocha from the 1980s, with his unusual hairstyle. When he observed what John’s daughter was doing in London, a place that he has always held dear, he developed an interest in her. He desired to infuse Paris with a portion of that energy.
“Simone’s work was more feminine, more romantic than what I did, but in a way that was still open. Irish and Chinese – it’s the culture that makes you create things differently.”
Her interpretation of one of his personal favorites, the Perfecto jacket, especially pleased him. She altered it to have voluminous sleeves and an hourglass shape. He says, “I would never have thought to do it like that.”
Nonetheless, Rocha’s experience with Gaultier’s couture lexicon appears to have been characterized more by unexpected affinities than by divergent points of view. After the initial announcement, some people predicted friction instead of fusion, according to her. Actually, the opposite has been accurate. Simone Rocha said:
“Every piece really feels like me, but also feels very much in conversation with Mr Gaultier, which has been fabulous.”
For example, the pieces based on hand-crocheted lace from Rocha’s native country have an intriguing dialogue. In Gaultier’s own collections, it was frequently utilized, and Rocha has always relied on it. Yet here, at least in this one instance, she approaches it with an iconoclastic degree that Jean Paul himself would have been proud of.
“I knew I wanted to work with fragile, feminine intangible fabrics, but they needed something else hard running through them. This idea of the aluminium, the perfume can, became the root of the whole thing.”
Our favourite looks
Conclusion: Simone Rocha triumphed with her incredible work on the new Jean Paul Gaultier collection.
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