Design for the people

In a basement full of light, behind a desk made of glass, surrounded by music, John Rocha sits, smokes brown cigarettes, and ponders his work. His black clothes throw a sharp silhouette onto the stark white walls and his chunky silver jewellery catches light against his long black hair. He looks every inch the eccentric fashion designer, sitting on the throne of a trendy, yet minimal, fashion emporium. And yet, when he speaks, he is surprisingly unaffected.

This is something that he acknowledges. “It used to be quite difficult for me in the industry, the way I am,” he says. “In the early ’80s at the catwalk shows everybody was very ‘Oh Darling’ this, ‘Darling’ that. And the way I acted was a handicap. Now, though, people find it quite refreshing.”

He is speaking from 20 years of experience – this year marks the anniversary of John and his wife, Odette’s, conception of the John Rocha label.

“Now, people in the business know I am who I am. And maybe people appreciate that. People who go into fashion think they have to act a certain way. I don’t think they should do that. Because how long can you act? I set up to do what I believe in: to illustrate that the principle of fashion is not about being here today, gone tomorrow. I like to feel that what I do has substance.”

In a business devoted to surfaces and shadows, smoke and mirrors, this is quite a goal. With outrageous collections such as those of Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood sharing the catwalk, simpler, more organic clothes sometimes fall into shadow.

“Some people make clothes to shock and some to last,” remarks Rocha. “I don’t think fashion is art, it’s commercial design. Certain people oppose me, and create fashion for their own ego or for art’s sake. But if you look at some of the greatest designers in the world – Yves St Laurent, Dior – I would never call them artists. I think they’re fantastic fashion designers.”

Rocha has himself been designing ever since he came to Ireland in the 1980s. Born in Hong Kong, he moved to London in the ’70s to study fashion and, on discovering Irish linen, was inspired to visit. He moved here shortly afterwards and created a label characterised by hand-painted silks, handcrafted knits and appliqué.

Since then he has branched into crystal, interior, product and jewellery design.

“I’m a fashion designer and will always love making clothes. But people see I can do things. When I first saw crystal I didn’t know how it was constructed but I know what I like to see in champagne glasses. And I know what a hotel room should look like when I stay there. So that is what I know for myself. Also my design is very craft-orientated – that’s why I’m living here.”

John is also living here, however, because it allows him to create fashion far away from the epicentre of the industry.

“It’s a cut-throat business,” he says. “Thank God I live here. My PR looks after everything. I go over to the fashion capitals, do my show, and come home. I couldn’t live in that world full-time. There’s nothing wrong with it, some people enjoy it a hundred percent and I enjoy it while I’m there. But I have to go back home to my fishing, family, and friends. You have to know where you stand, what you believe in.”

The world of fashion, it seems, is not as glamorous and carefree as it might appear.

“It’s tough – it caters for the luxury sector and if there’s an economic downturn, people suffer. And it’s a long-term process, everything is by hand. And you’re only as good as your last collection, every six months you’re putting yourself on the stage to be criticised. Now though, if they do criticise, I think ‘At least, because I’m established now, it won’t finish my career’.”

And the strain can stem from below as well as above. “Hairdressers, make-up artists, dressers, music producers, PR, people from my office – they’re all depending on you. So subconsciously you are taking a risk to try to make some kind of a statement.

“Sometimes that’s part of the excitement, because not many industries give you that challenge.” He pauses. “It’s almost like being in a rock band and people want to see you perform every night.

“In Ireland we don’t have this strong fashion industry you see in Italy, France, London and New York,” Rocha continues, “but I think we create our own style. In Italy everybody’s wearing Gucci or Prada, in Paris it’s bourgeois, in New York it’s sports-orientated. And if I had stayed in London after college I think I’d be a very different designer. There fashion is harder, more dramatic, you have people like McQueen, Galliano. I feel my fashion is quieter here.”
We Irish, however, are not world-renowned for being particularly fashionable.

“I don’t like to put people in boxes,” Rocha counters. “When I go to clubs and concerts I see people’s style and they, as much as Tokyo, influence me. Back in the ’80s Ireland was just beginning to catch up in terms of fashion and people didn’t have the confidence to create their own style so they were very label-conscious. But in the last ten years I see a very exciting creative force coming through.”

One piece of advice that Rocha would give to up-and-coming designers is to look around for this creativity. “You have to look – everyday I see something. I remember walking in the streets of Tokyo and seeing a Japanese boy in winter in a pair of clogs – I said ‘That’s a great look!’ In New Zealand I thought ‘What wonderful colours they wear!’ Music is important, movies are important, because these are all part of what happens in our culture.

“Also remember,” he continues, “to spend time abroad to see how the big stage works. I spent two years in Italy and learned everything I needed – after I’d already been in the business for ten years. The turning point for me was, not just working in fashion, but understanding how it works.”

Should young Irish designers base themselves in the fashion capitals? “No. The fashion industry is like the music or movie industry. Until U2 came along we didn’t have a rock band and now they’re the biggest in the world. The same with the movie industry – until Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan started getting Oscars. So it’s up to you to define how you’re going to achieve success.”

And it’s people like “Jim Sheridan and Bono – people who come from this part of the world and achieve fantastic things in their field” that are the inspiration behind much of Rocha’s work.

“People don’t inspire me because of what they do in fashion but by what they achieve. I’m not a fashion person. People always want me to do things at Oscar time but I don’t do style, I make clothes for people.”

It wouldn’t make a bad epitaph at all…