London Fashion Week: Irish creativity shines at Simone Rocha’s haunting and beautiful show

Irish creativity really shone at the weekend at London Fashion Week. In a remarkable set of coincidences, it wasn’t just Paul Costelloe who drew on his native heritage for his 2023 autumn-winter collection when he opened the event on Friday.

Designers Simone Rocha and Robyn Lynch both referenced their Irish identities and backgrounds in very different and compelling ways in two outstanding collections that used live Irish music to reinforce those associations – at the Rocha show, it was the contemporary Irish folk group Lankum, while at for the Lynch show, it was the young Mayo harpist Roisin Berkeley who created a custom track for the collection.

Rocha has always used historic locations for her shows and this one held in the vast central hall of Westminster Hall (where meetings of the suffragettes used to take place in 1914) was suitably grand. Behind this haunting and beautiful melange of menswear and womenswear, were ideas drawn from the traditions and rituals associated with Lughnasa, the ancient Irish harvest festival and its pagan origins.

[ London Fashion Week: Paul Costelloe dedicates collection to Dublin and Joyce’s Ulysses ]

The opening salvos of golden puff sleeved dresses and ensembles sparkling with crystal and pearls set the tone of controlled decoration and handwork throughout. For men, glittering tweed greatcoats and balloon sleeved jackets, set off against twinkling shoulder shawls and pearled trims, showed the designer’s skilful subversion of traditional notions of masculine and feminine attire – masculine fragility, feminine power. Sepulchral white lace and sheer fabrics for instance, were used for both with macramé adding textural drama. Models traversing the hall and galleries included photographer Perry Ogden, the actress Olwen Fouéré and author/entrepreneur Lily Cole.

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Shapely silhouettes and creamy prom dresses embellished with crystal motifs were delicate and romantic. while white collars imparted a puritan look to a long black lace dresses. Blood red lips, red ribbons and eyes daubed with red referenced seasonal customs of Lughnasa – protection against bad luck – as did puffed skirts stuffed with straw associated with the harvest.

Rocha always keeps her romanticism in control and grounded this collection with her usual brogues, white tractor soles, slippers and pink platforms. It was a show of great elegance and strength and drew roars of applause at the finale. “A twisted lullaby,” she called it.

Robyn Lynch’s great strength is her sense of colour and sense of humour. Her menswear collection, supported by NEWGEN with sponsorship from Geox, made entirely in wool pushed its capabilities to the limit. With a palette of four different shades of green, from pale pistachio to sage, she sent out a menswear collection that was fresh, vivid and sporty, giving a bright new twist to familiar shorts, tracksuits, gilets and hoodies.

Her abstracted Aran knits drew from vintage patterns in new ways and her familiar party prints got a Hibernian makeover with references to céilí and a map of Ireland. A finalist of the 2023 International Woolmark Prize – winners will be announced in May according to her parents Mick and Sue who attended the show – Lynch was tasked with exploring the topic of “dialogue” and for this she honed in on stereotypes as forms of communication. “So instead of proving stereotypes wrong, I turned them on their head and presented them as symbols of pride,” she said. It could not have been done in a more stylish, assured way in this sophisticated collection.

A secret garden bedecked with flowers and floral chandeliered arcades was the elaborate setting for Richard Quinn’s autumn-winter presentation styled by Carine Roitfeld (former editor in chief of French Vogue) complete with vocals and the English Chamber Orchestra in a transformed Marylebone fitness centre.

Known for his signature floral prints and overblown opera coats, Richard Quinn packs a punch when it comes to drama and the collection was introduced by masked dancers from the Dane Bates troupe in head-to-toe black latex and chains prowling along the catwalk before the first pleated floral dresses made their entrance.

Each gown was more spectacular than the last – from floor-length night blue opera coats glittering with jewellery to pale pink beaded suits and billowing shapes printed with dusty florals or polka dots.

Dreamy affairs demand special occasions, but Quinn is not only one of the hottest tickets in town, but a shrewd businessman with a thriving print shop and a huge private clientele. In growing demand for bridal wear, it was not surprising that a significant part of the show featured the most glorious white dresses, some tailored, others diaphanous, and several made entirely and completely by hand from latticed pearls.