Simone Rocha to open debut store on Mount Street

Joining the likes of Céline, Christopher Kane and Roksanda Ilincic, London Fashion Week Designer Simone Rocha is set to open her debut store on Mount Street, in Mayfair, London.

The store, located across from Scott’s restaurant, is slated to open its doors in September, during London Fashion Week. The Central Saint Martins graduate has been working together with her father, designer John Rocha, on the store’s interiors to ensure it reflects her brand’s identity.

“I really have a vision for my collections to be in a special, unique place, a very personal creative space with my own identity,” revealed Rocha to WWD. “I felt that with my dad’s experience and his sensitivity to space, together we could create a store very personal to me, and to give the clothes a sense of place.”

Simone Rocha joins fellow London designers on Mount Street

“It will be a very personal, intimate, interesting and inspiring retail experience with evolving installations with different seasons,” she explained, adding that the store will also act as a platform for new ideas. Rocha is the latest London based designer to set up shop on the street, with her store opening coming not long after co-London designer Erdem Moralioglu store opening on South Audley Street.

Demand for rental space on Mount Street pushed retail rent prices up 25 percent in 2014 and over the past year and half several local labels as well as international brand have opened up stores. Rocha added that she “feels like [Mount Street] is a really international place to be."

"I think the mix of London designers and international inspiring designers like Delfina Delttrez, Marc Jacobs and Céline on the street is what makes it a very special place to be.” Whether or not the store opening will be the first of many remains unclear, as Rocha declined to elaborate on the matter. “I have a plane going forward, and I am always trying to push things forward with my collections.”

The young designer's collections are currently stocked at a number of premium department stores including Dover Street Market, Browns, Selfridges, Ikram and Colette.

Image: Simone Rocha shop-in-shop in Dover Street Market