Simone Rocha: wild, refined, and everything London Fashion Week needs
At Alexandra Palace, the Irish designer fused myth and modernity proving she’s the queen of romance and rebellion
London Fashion Week undeniably belonged to Simone Rocha this season. At Alexandra Palace, the Irish designer presented her Autumn/Winter 2026 collection to a who’s who of London cool; editors, musicians and long-time devotees gathered not just to see clothes, but to witness evolution. Front row, Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. watched with quiet intensity, his brooding presence mirroring the collection’s collision of romance and rebellion.
Channeling the Irish myth of Tír na nÓg (the land of eternal youth) Rocha conjured a dreamlike collision of past and future. Her feminine codes were sharpened and reframed. The white pony emerged as a recurring avatar, stitched into lace and tapestry, delicate yet defiant.
Hard met soft throughout as tweed tailoring grounded the fantasy. Rocha cut jackets and skirts in 1920s–1940s silhouettes, then sliced, spliced and propelled them decisively into the future. Eras didn’t blur; they conversed.
Workwear shirts and black gabardine quilting introduced a pragmatic edge, offset by flashes of leather garter belts and the quiet provocation of lingerie dressing. Silk slips slipped from beneath oversized tweed coats and bomber jackets (a perennial emblem of riotous youth culture) styled with a distinctly London irreverence. It felt like discovering a treasure in a thrift store or a grandparent’s wardrobe, yet nothing read as nostalgic.
The spirit of Perry Ogden’s Pony Kids (1999) pulsed beneath it all – that raw, restless Dublin energy translated into something scrappy, romantic and defiantly modern. A collaboration with Adidas Originals sealed the mood: track tops clashed beautifully with leopard print and cascades of tulle. Sport and romance shared the runway without friction, proof that in Rocha’s hands, contradiction is harmony.
When it comes to London Fashion Week’s true heavyweights, this season Rocha led the pack. She sharpened her signature romantic subversion with flashes of metal, renegade attitude and a confident cool that felt instinctive rather than imposed. Sharp, seductive, and utterly intoxicating.