British designer Simone Rocha has announced plans to open her first ever store on London’s Mount Street. The area has recently become a hotspot for designer brands wishing to set up shop in one of the capital’s trendiest and most fashion-forward locales.
Daughter of designer John Rocha, Simone has followed in her father’s footsteps and already established herself in the her own right in the fashion world. And the move to open up her very first namesake store is clearly a poignant one for the young creative: “I really have a vision for my collections to be in a special, unique place, a very personal creative space with my own identity,” she said to WWD. “I felt that with my dad’s experience and his sensitivity to space, together we could create a store very personal to me, and to give the clothes a sense of place.” Speaking of the overall ambiance that she wanted to create around her designs, Rocha added that, “It will be a very personal, intimate, interesting and inspiring retail experience with evolving installations with different seasons.”
Having received her MA degree in 2010, Rocha went on to launch her debut collection at London Fashion Week the same year and her pieces are now sold by the likes of Selfridges, Browns, Colette and Dover Street Market. Mount Street, meanwhile, has seen a host of international designers settle into new store spaces there, including the likes of Christopher Kane, Nicholas Kirkwood and Rouland Mouret. For her part, Rocha admits that Mount Street “feels like a really international place to be and I think the mix of London designers and international inspiring designers like Delfina Delettrez, Marc Jacobs and Céline on the street is what makes it a very special place to be.”
This looks to be the first of a series of new developments for the 28-year-old designer as she starts to build her presence and her impact on the fashion world. “I have a plan going forward, and I am always trying to push things forward with my collections,” she said.
