Simone Rocha unveiled her Fall/Winter 2026 collection at Alexandra Palace in North London on Sunday (February 22) and the front row was just as compelling as the runway.
Actors Chloe Fineman and Josephine de la Baume, musicians Arlo Parks, Grian Chatten, Carlos O’Connell, Conor Deegan, Holly Humberstone, and Joe Sweeney, producer Lil Silva, models Paloma Elsesser, Alva Claire, Tali Lennox, Kesewa Aboah, Honor Weatherall, Pixie Geldof, Doville Drizyte, Miho Nonaka, and Georgie Jesson, designers John Rocha and Max Rocha, editors Chioma Nnadi, Hamish Bowles, Kenya Hunt, Isabella Burley, Julia Hobbs, and Olivia Singer, photographers Juergen Teller, Venetia Scott, Perry Ogden, Colin Dodgson, and Jerry Stafford, fashion week regulars Alexa Chung and Rahi Chadda, DJs Princess Julia and Jerry Groovy, writer Raven Smith, creative director Fernando Verderi, stylist Dickon Bowden, filmmaker Fenn O’Meally, curator Lucy Chadwick, track & field star Jazmin Sawyers, and creatives Scott Lyon-Wall and Niamh Ogden were among those in attendance.
For the show, Simone drew inspiration from Tír na nÓg (land of the young), the mythological Irish land of eternal youth, weaving together folklore and modernity in a collection that felt both nostalgic and subversively current. Perry Ogden’s 1999 photography book Pony Kids, documenting Dublin youth and their horses, provided another key influence.
A major highlight of the show was the continuation of Simone’s partnership with adidas Originals. The collaboration reimagined archetypal sports garments through Simone’s romantic lens. Track tops and streamlined leotards met tulle, lace, and crinolined evening volumes in hybrid silhouettes that blurred the line between athleticism and ceremony.
