Thursday, September 18, 2008

Wishlist-John Rocha.


John Rocha's opens his first London shop

Dublin-based designer John Rocha will open the doors of his first ever London shop in a listed London building at 10am on Wednesday September 5th. Rocha is a regular on London's catwalks and moved to London from his native Hong Kong to study fashion over 30 years ago. He is known especially for creating beautifully-crafted clothing in natural fibres and mixing classic techniques with modern interpretation. Experimentation with Irish linen in his Final Year sparked a love for Eire and he has been based in Dublin for 22 years now. With Chinese/Portugese parents, Rocha has no claim to Britishness but it's no surprise the Brits have pretty much claimed him. He was named British Designer of the Year in 1994 and awarded a CBE in 2002.


Located in the heart of Mayfair in Dover Street W1, the shop is set on the site of a old public house. Rocha's team have painstakingly restored and upgraded the premises which features a library and menswear collections on the lower ground floor, displays of men's and women's clothing and room dedicated to Rocha's crystal creations on the ground floor and then womenswear, childrenswear and a conservatory on the first floor. As well as designing clothes, accessories, jewellery and crystal, Rocha has also gained a great rep for his architectural projects. These include The Morrison, a four star hotel in Dublin, apartments in Liverpool, a business complex in Dublin, the Orion complex in Birmingham and apartments in Budapest.
The top floor of Rocha's London shop houses an apartment, so a bit like Zandra Rhodes whose London residence is above the Fashion and Textiles Museum, Rocha has the perfect pad when he visits, just above his shop.


John Rocha, 15a Dover Street , London W1S 4LR. Telephone: 020 7495 2233. Open Mon-Saturday, 10am-6pm, late night shopping on Thursdays until 7pm and closed all day Sunday.
http://www.johnrocha.ie/