Simone Rocha’s fall 2025 coed collection was full of preppy wardrobe staples. But in the hands of the experimental and whimsical designer, the garments were ironically twisted and turned on their head. Beneath massive chandeliers and gilded ceilings on February 23, Rocha revealed her latest collection at London Fashion Week—a classic study of contrasts, with sheer dresses and heavy, pelt-like faux furs; rabbit-shaped bags; blood-red; pure white, and blacker-than-black. The theme this season? Aesop’s classic fable, The Tortoise and the Hare.

“I was thinking about the idea of past, present, presence, pretend,” Rocha told W during a Zoom call from her London studio a week before the show. “What does that look like and feel like? Playing back, looking at narratives in previous collections, and rewriting them.” In The Tortoise and the Hare, the designer found comfort in “the idea of slow and steady gets you there in the end, and having this sense of confidence in your proposition.”

Structured khaki trousers, neat little cardigans, and chunky striped rugby shirts flew down the runway, along with Rocha’s fan-favorites like bows, ribbons, and ruffles worked into every seam, trim, and detail. Despite some fashion fans ditching last year’s bow trend like a hot potato, Rocha’s trimmings are still alive and well. They manipulated black flowing gowns with crimson, corset-like ties from shoulder to hemline and punctuated baby pink jacquard tops paired with faux-fur undies. “I did these sliced-and-diced, twisted twinsets,” Rocha said, noting this “twisted twinset” was the biggest narrative of the collection. “But then I thought, what if I brought this slicing into something more, and stitched it back together with ribbon and lacing? I wanted you to feel really displaced.” The combinations were wonderfully weird, and were envisioned through the female gaze—the very essence of the biggest Simone Rocha collector’s deepest desires.

The accessories had life. Big, thick, faux-fur scarves were twisted around the necks or worn over the shoulder like trophies or stoles—either way, they looked like critters. (Rocha’s dog-cat-like bags from last season were dubbed “creature bags” by the designer, another signature.) Floppy, fuzzy bunny bags and glossy-pearl minaudières were carried under the arms or held close to the heart. Full of ironic, sweet, and macabré contradictions, faux-fur bra tops mixed with midriff-baring skirts with long slits and baby blue silky gowns were covered in sprays of ribbon like vintage nightgowns.

It’s been just over a year since Simone Rocha presented her first couture collection as a guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier. With that milestone came an evolution: “It made me want to create the best clothing I can,” she said of the experience. “And it gave me much more sensitivity to the individualism of the garments on the body, rather than just an idea. I’ve always played with characters, but I wanted to have that choppiness of characterization in each collection and in each garment, so they could all play off one another rather than everyone singing the same song.”