In the show notes, Simone Rocha characterized her spring/summer 2026 collection as “an awkward moment” and “a playful provocative stance.” Known for her beautifully elaborate, translucent garments and jeweled adornments, the London-based designer has recently started examining childlike innocence through her runways. This season focused on the hopeful, fleeting moment between youth and young adulthood, whereas the previous season used nostalgia through her—sometimes literal—evocation of the elementary schoolyard story The Tortoise and the Hare.
Rocha also mentioned Maureen Freely’s piece “My Dress Rehearsal: or How Mrs. Clarke Taught Me How to Sew” in the notes. The photobook Entering the Masquerade: Girls from Eleven to Fourteen has the writing. Rocha’s runway is confronted with a cumbersome, required performance in which every girl is required to take part.
A sequin bralette that slipped off the shoulder and a flower organza skirt draped over crinolines evoked the unease of your first school dance, an occasion where many people learn how to express themselves. While dipping one’s proverbial toes into the waters of adolescence, the tiara and asymmetrical necklace, which are also featured throughout the collection, added a sense of dress-up. Subtle styling decisions and gestures, such as slumped shoulders, crossed arms clutching silk pillows (which were actually bags in disguise), haphazard makeup, and untidy hair, were used to portray natural fears. The models were young.
Even if the trip was shaky, it wasn’t entirely so. The allover sequin dresses, which floated over the waist and used crinoline to redraw the boundaries of the body, or the chartreuse dress with padded hips were examples of more adult confidence. Additionally, there were breakthroughs in Rocha’s distinctive philosophy. Though a little out of place with the other purposefully awkward ensembles, a satin gown with a graphic Icelandic poppy, a pink quilted set with delicate black bows, and a cotton poplin dress covered in floral vinyl felt more in line with the brand’s essence.
As of right now, Rocha appears to be creating a narrative thread that spans several seasons, a technique she has previously employed to link collections that led to her couture collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier. Childhood, youth, and adulthood are the final three stages of the triptych.
