IN A time where thanks to the frequent changing of hands, fashion houses run the risk of eroding their long-term aesthetic coherence, Alessandro Dell’Acqua takes French fashion house Rochas a step forward this season by re-invoking its history and returning to its roots. The bold and elegant femininity that underpinned the spirit of Marcel Rochas, who founded the house in 1925, was palpable in the 37 looks that were sent down the runway at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris.
Throughout the collection were the voluminous silhouettes that have come to be associated with Rochas’ aesthetic vocabulary. Instead of a focus on single textures which characterised last season , it appears that the emphasis for Autumn Winter is their blending — thankfully, to a more modern effect. Boxy suit jackets and pencil skirts accentuated at the hip met sculptural dresses and waisted coats, prevented from looking too old-fashioned either through their rendering in leather and vinyl, or through the subtle addition of such textiles in the form of ruched gloves, skin-tight boots à la Balenciaga, or limited edition millinery created by Stephen Jones, Rochas’ guest collaborator.
The showstoppers were naturally left nearer the end of the show. True to the invocation of the house’s history as a couture house, awards show-worthy organza and silk gowns floated down the runway, full and diaphanous and in hues of white, rose pink and black. All topped off with a bow at the neck, of course.
Noticeably absent were trousers in any form. Rejecting the trendiness of mixing masculine and feminine codes, Dell’Acqua is resolute in presenting a vision for Rochas that is overtly feminine, and decidedly so. And why not? It worked for Marcel Rochas too. If anything, there is nothing more powerful than a woman who embraces her femininity, and chooses to do so in her own terms.
by Kay Ean Leong