ROCHAS Fall/Winter 2022/23 Ready-To-Wear show premiere at Paris Fashion Week was all about medieval ensembles. Models graced the runway draped in sheer, delicate silhouettes, accompanied with eye-catching fringes, intricate embroideries, and long nails. This collection marks the second by ROCHAS Artistic Director Charles de Vilmorin, who first assumed the role in February 2021. His ROCHAS debut came later as part of last year’s September Paris Fashion Week, where he unveiled his Spring/Summer 2022 collection.

A majority of this season’s color palette entailed darker hues portraying ones of mystique. These alluring tones combined with soft creams and beiges along with striking flashes of blue and dazzling mahoganies. Its pieces specifically included shoulder padded, figure hugging dresses, flared pants, jumpsuits with turtleneck ruffled flares, and delicate frilled tops, to name a few. The collection’s gothic aura was also apparent amongst the pieces’ headwear like its gleaming long-sleeve ribbed top with a connected one reminiscent of a knight in shining armor. The looks’ sleek ankle booties, thigh high boots, and sharply defined ones with silver studs depicted sophisticated ferocity.

In a press statement for V, de Vilmorin expressed his sentiments about the collection and the shift between his first as ROCHAS’ Artistic Director. “The first show was radical,” he shared. “There was a faint techno vibe. I touched on manga, punk. Now that I am embedded in the House, I find myself evolving towards more classicism, a sense of mystery but also lightness. This season, from the fluttering, pleated hats to fine shoes that graze the ground, I sought out the ROCHAS woman — at once strong and poetic. By day, in stylized outerwear and a high-waisted wide pant; for evening, a sensuous chrysalis.”

He goes on to state his captivations and further explain the inspiration behind the assemblage. “From the ROCHAS archives, I became enthralled by the energy of a winter black. A line undulating on a page transformed with texture: at turns matte and slick, deeply opaque or with transparency as though illuminated by a full moon. This is a black imbued with stories. But then a black garment speaks with absolute precision. It hides nothing. It also reveals like a city in the black of night that pulses with electric blue, emerald, deep bronze, and crimson.”

Explore ROCHAS Fall/Winter 2022/23 entire collection and show below.