“John Rocha shows are always an intriguing cross-fertilisation of cultures. The Hong Kong-born designer has been resident in Dublin for many, many years (his label is already 25), and draws inspiration from Celtic art and craft. But there is always just a hint of the Orient mixed in, as delicately as a hint of coriander in a won-ton soup.
For this season’s collection, his references came from Carrickmacross in Ireland, a renowned center for traditional lace-making, and the Irish-American abstract painter, Sean Scully. Rocha mixed textures and shapes haphazardly but layered up shades on shades of bone-white, black or tan in sharp tailoring.
The flower-covered fedoras make me think that Rocha derived some inspiration from womens hats. The choice to mix flowers and fedoras is a curious one, but this inherent femininity is tamed somewhat by the oversized peacoats that many of the models wore.” Morphisis
