"This gown has been a labour of love, intricately handpainted, inspired by Monet's waterlilies." (x)
"Given Rocha’s intrinsic link to the art world – through the inspiration she draws from Pina Bausch and Louise Bourgeois or collaborations with Genieve Figgis and Faye Wei Wei – you might have expected the pair to develop a conceptual approach to the “Fashion is Art” dress code. Yet the opposite was the case: “I really felt that I didn’t want to dress her up as an untouchable thing, like an artwork,” says Rocha. “I wanted it to feel like something she would wear, but that had the unique feel of a one-off dress.” Comprising a structured corset in lace-appliquéd canvas embroidered with delicate Florentine silver and enamelled poppies, fastened over a gossamer tulle underdress, the strapless column gown struck the perfect balance between statuesque glamour and an almost dainty fragility. Down the flank, metal piercings bind lace panels, a development of a technique that debuted in Rocha’s autumn/winter 2026 show. “Adwoa loved the idea of fragility and hardness together,” she explains. “We wanted to have this real sense of material juxtaposition – strength and shine with more humble, fragile materials, like lace and tulle.” Musing on the look’s confident sheerness, Rocha notes that “it was really about this idea of embracing the intimacy of the body… like a second skin. When we were talking about that, Adwoa was thinking about herself.” The sequin and pearl surface embellishments on the silk tulle underdress took Aboah’s own tattoos as their reference point." (x)
