For Simone Rocha Spring 2027, the Irish designer returned to the Old Bailey with a collection that felt more concentrated and intimate than usual. With menswear now presented separately, Rocha used the season to focus entirely on womenswear, reducing the elaborate narrative framework that often surrounds her shows and allowing the clothes themselves to carry more of the meaning.
The collection began with an unexpected cultural reference: Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ, a painting long believed lost before being rediscovered in Dublin in 1990. The idea of finding something extraordinary in an ordinary setting became a useful metaphor for Rocha’s approach. Inside the severity of London’s central criminal court, softness, romance and vulnerability took on a more powerful presence.
Color reflected the Caravaggio influence. Deep red, black and petrol blue appeared across velvet dresses, leather coats and layered separates. Roses became one of the defining motifs of the season, appearing around necklines, across hoods, on skirts and even on more practical pieces such as bomber jackets. Some were rendered delicately in fabric, while others appeared in leather, giving the traditionally ...