The Role and Influence of Tradition in Contemporary Fashion and Clothing Design in Ireland: Simone Rocha X H&M Collection
Introduction
This essay will examine the role and influence of tradition in contemporary fashion and clothing design in Ireland, specifically focusing on Irish fashion designer Simone Rocha and pieces from her collaboration collection with H&M where her use of Irish traditional fashion is very obvious. Irish traditional craft and clothing seems to become more and more popular again, especially with high end designers. And a lot of Irish designers take pride in their Irish heritage by using elements in their designs and collections. Simone Rocha uses her Irish heritage as one of her biggest inspirations for her collections, she does not do many interviews but she does not have to, the clothes and inspiration speak for themselves. This essay will examine all the pieces of the Simone Rocha x H&M designer collaboration collection where there is a clear inspiration of Irish traditional clothing or craft.
Simone Rocha is an Irish designer born in Dublin with a Chinese father who is also a famous fashion designer and an Irish mother who was his manager. She has shown her collections at London Fashion Week multiple times. Rocha’s collections are described with inspirations from “history and heritage. Details and fabrications. Family and community. The many facets of womanhood.” (Simone Rocha and H&M in a unique designer collaboration, Hm.com, 2022) Her work is very personal she says in one of her rare interviews and she uses personal experiences of her life through the collections. Her collections are never fully new as she draws on similar cultural and personal aspects but still they are fresh every time. She is known for researching her inspirations thoroughly and her use of her own cultural backgrounds, as well as using pearls and a white, black and red colour scheme. She states that she uses this colour scheme because “I’ve always loved exploring the light and dark together” (Hyland, ELLE.com, 2022) she says. The red pops with these colours because the drama of red compels her; “It symbolizes love, but also blood and pain.” (Hyland, ELLE.com, 2022) She states. And aims to create friction with the red combined with other colours. Her collections are always feminine with a focus on handcraft. She has collaborated with H&M for one of their designer collaboration collections in 2021, and is the first Irish designer to do so, in fact making history by being “the first ever Irish designer selected to join a roll call of catwalk's biggest international brands.” (Power, independent.ie, 2021) The collection is made up of women’s, men’s and children’s clothing, but this essay will be focusing on pieces in the women’s collection. It clearly has very strong links with her Irish heritage which she also says in an interview about the collection with H&M where they mention she is “internationally renowned for her intricate and meticulously-researched collections, always with a nod to her own heritage: Ireland and Hong Kong.” (Simone Rocha and H&M in a unique designer collaboration, Hm.com, 2022) Especially the jumpers, trench coats, shoes, dresses and hair accessories seem to have a clear influence of traditional Irish clothing, which will be discussed in the coming paragraphs. It is very interesting to see such a famous contemporary designer do so much research and use so many traditional Irish fashion, probably even without a lot of people knowing about what they are wearing. Even the models used for the editorial photographs done for the collection seen to have a meaning behind them. Daisy Edgar-Jones, the actress who had just portrayed one of the main characters in the hit TV show Normal People, which is about the life of Irish teenagers, based on a book by Sally Rooney, a young Irish writer. When the collection came out Normal People had just come out and not only put Ireland on the map, but in the spotlight. Besides being a very smart move marketing wise, with Edgar-Jones being very popular, but also to make a point about the connection with Ireland in her collection. Clearly for Simone Rocha, there is a thought behind every detail of her collections.
Aran / Báinín Jumper
Firstly, the Woolen jumper that is in the Simone Rocha x H&M collection. (pictured below on the left) Owning this jumper meant being able to have a closer look at it to examine the kinds of stitching used in it. The jumper clearly contains Aran stitching with a single cable on the front, with on both sides’ double cables and a tree of life knit besides those. Then on the undersides of the arms and the sides of the jumper there is a little ladder of life stitch. Assuming that Rocha knows about the meaning, which is likely as her collections are very well researched and everything means something besides being based on Irish technique and folklore; “Rocha has put both sides of her heritage into her work/ showing collections inspired by traditional Irish techniques like Carrickmacross lace and Aran knits.” (Hyland, 2022) These stitches might mean something to her personally, as she mentioned that her collections are very personal but does not go into real depth about this. For example, the cable knit means luck, the tree of life stitch means family and the ladder of life stitch means health in Aran knitting. Looking at the stitches zoomed in on the pictures, these are exactly the same as the stitches on the jumper. Besides the crème white colour, the pattern also looks very similar to what would have been on Báinín jumpers, as seen on the pictures of the Clancy Brothers in the 60’s next to the Simone Rocha jumper, the front looks done in exactly the same way with the large panel in the middle of the jumper, though it is hard to see if the kind of stitch is exactly the same, the design definitely is.
[1] Aoife Granville, PowerPoints Traditional Fashions, Textiles and Craft (2022) on Canvas UCC. (Aran stitches meanings, tree of life stitch, cable stitch, ladder of life stitch.)
[2] WWD Simone Rocha X H&M Collection Lookbook Photos (2021) https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/simone-rocha-hm-collection-photos-1234725920/simone-rocha-hm-26/
[3] Aoife Granville, PowerPoints Traditional Fashions, Textiles and Craft (2022) on Canvas UCC. The Clancy Brothers in Báinín jumpers.
Trench Coat / Kinsale Cloak
The second interesting piece in the Simone Rocha x H&M collection is the trench coat. Unlike a normal trench coat, it is shapeless and has not belt around it. The collar with pearls and the sleeves with some gathered together kind of ruffling are the vocal points of this piece that make it look almost eccentric. It is made out of trench coat fabric in black, unlike most trench coats that would be beige, which is an interesting choice. Almost all of these characteristics match up with the characteristics of the Kinsale cloak. (pictured beneath on the right) though the Simone Rocha version does not have a hood and is shorter, it is shapeless like the cloak and has the particular kind of ruffling which would be used on the back and hood of the cloak, seen in the last picture, it is clear that the same exact technique is used. The Kinsale cloak was made of wool, but in the last picture it almost looks as if it could be made of the same trench coat fabric. This is likely because of the technique of ‘napping’ the wool that was used to make the wool kind of protected from water. This napping is done by brushing the wool, kind of like felting. It was used by Irish fighters to stay warm and dry and to be able to be outside in wet weather. It surely was a conscious choice of Rocha to remake this into a trench coat, which is known to be a coat worn in the rain of a fabric that is watertight, similar to the use of the Kinsale cloak. Rocha put her own modern twist on it by making it shorter, adding embellishments and making it a trench coat. First red was a popular colour for cloaks but Kinsale cloaks would also often be a darker colour like blue, grey or black after the red was associated with the English soldiers during the 1798 rebellion, and red dye being more expensive. which is why it is interesting that Rocha chose black for this design, because her colour scheme used for a lot of the collections also contains red. She could have made the trench coat red, but chose not to. Perhaps because black is more wearable for a trench coat nowadays, or perhaps because she wants to make a statement. Rocha never talks about politics in her interviews so this is only speculation, but since she makes a great effort to research the inspirations for her collections in depth, it is not bold to assume that she is aware of this fact.
[4] WWD Simone Rocha X H&M Collection Lookbook Photos (2021) https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/simone-rocha-hm-collection-photos-1234725920/simone-rocha-hm-26/
[5] Aoife Granville, PowerPoints Traditional Fashions, Textiles and Craft (2022) on Canvas UCC.
Hair Accessories
As a part of the Simone Rocha x H&M collection, Rocha also designed hair accessories like hair bow clip-ins and headbands. Though these seem quite regular, there is still a connection to traditional Irish fashion, though maybe not as obvious or well-known. The first pieces chosen for this essay are the red hairbows, which were also available in a black colourway. They are made of a silk like fabric and the big bow has ‘Simone Rocha’ on the end of the ribbon, in black on the red ones and in red on the black ones. The smaller bows on top almost look like ribbons, which would have been a very usual thing for girls to wear in their hair in Ireland. Interestingly, as a part of this collaboration collection, Rocha also had a children’s line where these smaller hair bows were also sold for girls. The bigger bow is more extravagant, and looks a lot like what the woman is wearing on the picture on the right. These bigger bows also look like bows that could be worn in the hair and wigs of girls during Irish dancing competitions. The second piece is the hairband. (pictured below on the left) It is made in a thick black velvet material and has white pearls all over it as embellishment, which matches the other pieces. This black and white colour way and extravagant embellishment looks a lot like the hairbands used in the hair of girls who do Irish dancing competitions, usually to hide the wig line. In these a lot of glitter and embellishments are used. The girl in the picture on the right is wearing a headband in the same black and white colour way, also embellished with pears, which looks very similar to the Simone Rocha x H&M headband. In the styling of the headband, they also used the small black bows in the back of the hairstyle, which makes it look even more like Irish dancing hair with the hairstyles that stand out.
[7] WWD Simone Rocha X H&M Collection Lookbook Photos (2021) https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/simone-rocha-hm-collection-photos-1234725920/simone-rocha-hm-26/
[8] Aoife Granville, PowerPoints Traditional Fashions, Textiles and Craft (2022) on Canvas UCC.
[9] WWD Simone Rocha X H&M Collection Lookbook Photos (2021) https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/simone-rocha-hm-collection-photos-1234725920/simone-rocha-hm-26/
[10] http://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/17/magazine/irish-dancing.html
Footwear / Irish Dancing Shoes
Rocha also included footwear in her Simone Rocha x H&M collection, these shoes were black, leather looking oxford-like shoes with laces and pearls around the front. Also notable is the heel that is made to stand out because they are white and is slightly higher than a normal oxford shoe would have. Though there are definitely a lot of different kinds of shoes for Irish dancing, without a doubt these are inspired by hard Irish dancing shoes. It is most evident in the way the heel is made, not only standing out because of the white but also a bit higher than normal and rounded slightly on the sides, very similar to the version of Irish dancing shoe in the picture on the right. Interesting is how she styled it with the white socks with bows on the back in the commercial picture on the left, just like the Irish dancing shoes are pictured as well. This seems to be another nod to the tradition and traditional clothing of Irish dancing, the embellishment on the socks with bows like the girls would wear on their dresses or in their hair. This leads to think that the styling here was an obvious choice to show the link to traditional Irish fashion and tradition.
[11] WWD Simone Rocha X H&M Collection Lookbook Photos (2021) https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/simone-rocha-hm-collection-photos-1234725920/simone-rocha-hm-26/
[12] http://www.irish-danceshoes.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=16
Limerick Lace and Carrickmacross Lace
In the Simone Rocha x H&M collection there are also multiple white dresses with traditional Irish lace and embroidery techniques that she is clearly inspired by; “Rocha has put both sides of her heritage into her work/ showing collections inspired by traditional Irish techniques like Carrickmacross lace and Aran knits.” (Hyland, ELLE.com, 2022) The first piece (pictured below on the left) chosen to be examined in this essay is a long white dress made of what looks to be organza. It has an underskirt the overskirt is a bit longer so the lacey details become visible. These lace details seem to be woven into the organza material, like embroidery. It looks a lot like Limerick lace, mixed with some elements from the Carrickmacross lace (pictured below) which was used to embellish plain fabrics just like Rocha does here. Simone Rocha made this look more modern by using the technique of embroidery on organza instead on muslin, which would be common for especially Carrickmacross lace, but the white thread on white fabric is still the same concept. This first piece comes closest to the Limerick lace because it is embroidery on machine made net, and because this is in collaboration with H&M, this would not have been hand made. Which is actually also a characteristic of Limerick lace, which would be called ‘mixed lace’ instead of ‘true lace’, where everything would be hand made. There are two types of Limerick lace; ‘needle run lace’, where the fabric would be stretched over a circular frame and the thread would go through with a hook, and ‘tambour lace’, where a needle is used to embroider the net fabric. The technique used on this dress would be very similar to the ‘needle run lace’, though most likely not done by hand. The dress’ embroidery also has similarities to ‘net-appliqué’ where patches of already embroidered work would be sewed on the fabric netting. Then the second piece (pictured below on the right) is also a long white dress, but the fabric seems to be more like muslin or linen. Irish linen was a big industry since the 14th century and was though to protect the body from dangers like dirt and unwashed cloth. What is interesting is that linen was also very important for the shirt making industry, and the collection does include shirts that can be seen styled with the first dress on the left. The puffy sleeves seem to be the vocal point and it has ruched lining on the sides with a flower lace pattern all over it. This seems to have elements from Carrickmacross lace but in a cutaway fashion. It also looks a lot like crochet lace, for example Clones crochet lace making. It is interesting that both dresses have a flower pattern on them, which could imply a close link to nature. It goes without saying that this stylish and versatile lace and appliqué work was a huge inspiration for her, which she mentions in one of her rare interviews. This lace making ties in not only with her feminine aspect in the collection but also with her use of traditional handcraft.
[13] WWD Simone Rocha X H&M Collection Lookbook Photos (2021) https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/simone-rocha-hm-collection-photos-1234725920/simone-rocha-hm-26/
[14] Aoife Granville, PowerPoints Traditional Fashions, Textiles and Craft (2022) on Canvas UCC. Limerick lace.
[15] Aoife Granville, PowerPoints Traditional Fashions, Textiles and Craft (2022) on Canvas UCC. Carrickmacross lace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the role and influence of Irish traditional fashion and craft is very obvious in contemporary fashion today, especially seen in the example of Simone Rocha and her collaboration collection with H&M. she is clearly inspired by her own Irish heritage and by femininity mixed with traditional Irish handcraft like wool, lace and linen. Especially in the pieces like the jumper, which is similar to an Aran or Báinín jumper with obvious Aran stitches, the crème white colour and the same design with a large panel in front containing the same stitch repeated a few times. The trench coat, which is resembling a Kinsale cloak, not only with the colour black but also the special kind of gathering of fabric used and the shapeless form of the coat. Then the hair accessories like the bows, similar to the ribbons girls would wear in their hair traditionally and the black and white embellished hairband, very much resembling the embellished hairbands used in the hairstyles and wigs of girls in Irish dancing competitions. Another link to traditional Irish dancing were the oxford like laced up shoes with pearls on them, especially with the higher than normal heel on them, just like hard Irish dancing shoes. And lastly, the dresses where different types of lace making is used as an inspiration with characteristics from both Limerick lace, Carrickmacross lace and Clune crochet lace making by both the use of appliqué on netting material and linen material. The resemblance side by side is very clear, though she has put a modern spin on it in a way where it is not obvious if you would not know the meaning and inspiration behind these pieces. Which makes it very wearable for everyone but yet not just something from the rack. Her pieces are often inspired by traditional Irish methods or types of clothing and fabric that were at one point banned by the English to try and either dominate the market themselves or dampen the spirit of the Irish out of fear for an uprising. It is ironic that she is now the most celebrated designer of London fashion week, showing there since 2010, and this ties in with Rocha explaining that her collections are personal, yet sartorial. But also, her explaining the colour scheme that is a part of her brand, playing with dark and light, the white and black. And then adding in her iconic pop of red, symbolizing love as well as blood and pain. Though she has not been political in any of her interviews it may symbolize her own personal struggle as well as her country’s struggle. It is a part of her own feminine independence as well as her own Irish independence.
Special Thanks
I would like to thank University College Cork for allowing me to study at their marvellous university and in particular folklorist dr Aoife Granville, who taught me so many new things about Irish heritage and folklore through clothing and textiles and helped me a great deal along the way. Without her this topic would not have been so researched and rounded.
Bibliography
WWD Simone Rocha X H&M Collection Lookbook Photos (2021) Available at: https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/simone-rocha-hm-collection-photos-1234725920/simone-rocha-hm-26/ (Accessed 19 December 2022).
“Simone Rocha and H&M in a unique designer collaboration” (2021) in Inside H&M Magazine. Available at: https://www2.hm.com/en_ie/life/culture/inside-h-m/simone-rocha-designer-collaboration-2021.html (Accessed on 19 December 2022)
Bennett, A., (2021) “The Simone Rocha X H&M Collection has Arrived! Shop the Delightful Collection Here” on VOGUE online. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/shop-simone-rocha-hm-collaboration (Accessed on 19 December 2022)
O’Sullivan, M., (2021) “Simone Rocha collaborates with H&M” on University Express. Available at: https://uccexpress.ie/simone-rocha-collaborates-with-hm/ (Accessed on 19 December 2022)
Power, B., (2021) Simone Rocha becomes the first Irish designer to do a collaboration with H&M” on Independent.ie. Available at: https://www.independent.ie/style/fashion/fashion-news/simone-rocha-becomes-the-first-irish-designer-to-do-a-collaboration-with-h-and-m-39970394.html (Accessed on 19 December 2022)
Weinstock, T., (2022) “The Beauty at Simone Rocha was Inspired by Irish Folklore” on British Vogue online. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/simone-rocha-beauty-aw-22 (Accessed on 19 December 2022)
Hyland, V., (2022) “For Simone Rocha, the Personal is Sartorial: After a decade in the business, motherhood led the designer to one of her most personal collections yet” on ELLE online. Available at: https://www.elle.com/fashion/a39830827/simone-rocha-interview-2022/ (Accessed on 19 December 2022)
Granville, A., (2022) PowerPoints on “Traditional Fashion, Textiles and Craft” on Canvas, UCC.
Copyright: Marielle Spelde