Like the space it inhabits, the desk of fashion designer Simone Rocha is recognisably hers. Flanked on both sides by imposing Victorian vestry cupboards and festooned by a four-tiered French crystal chandelier, the lacquered black table, gleaming like a pool of ink, holds court in the drawing room of Rocha’s London terraced house.
Originally a shop display table belonging to her father, designer John Rocha, the kidney bean–shaped desk draws the eye in. Its freestanding position feels intentionally nucleic: not only does the decor – like the Pony Kids print by the British photographer Perry Ogden, who walked in Simone’s Autumn/Winter 2023 show – seem locked in its orbit, the cherished objects arranged meticulously on the table form an intimate microcosm of Simone Rocha’s personal and creative worlds.
Indeed, Rocha’s designs have long drawn on a deeply personal tapestry, from her Irish and Hong Kong Chinese heritage to femininity and motherhood. Her father taught her to sew, while her mother, Odette, oversees the business side of her label. Several collections were shaped by the arrival of her first, then second, child. When she launched her own design studio in 2010, her father’s desk was its first inhabitant – serving, quite literally, as the cornerstone of her label.
Alongside the Holy Bible and an array of Choosing Keeping notebooks, practical objects are flanked by tchotchkes bearing her hallmarks: two ombre candles are accented with red bows, and a vase sits atop a lace and pearl coaster while three Wallace Seymour soft pastels almost obscure the green clover painted on a plate – a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it ode to Rocha’s Irish upbringing. The designer welcomed Choosing Keeping to her drawing room to discuss desk rituals, gift-giving, and the hypnotic effects of nice paper.
Choosing Keeping: What are the links between Simone Rocha the brand and Choosing Keeping? What do you like about the store?
Simone Rocha: I was attracted to Choosing Keeping originally because of the promise of this mixture of things – like the pastels. I was intrigued by their being at the same time historical and technical. I remember coming to the shop in Columbia Road and thinking that.
CK: What do you use stationery for?
SR: I do a lot of writing. I don’t use a lot of pens – I mostly use pencils and pads. And I always write all my personal notes on your cards.
CK: What is your relationship to paper?
SR: I can easily be hypnotised and impressed by nice paper. I’m fascinated by the way people reuse paper and envelopes. I, for instance, not only reuse the patterned printed paper from Choosing Keeping but also give it to family members. You cannot do that with low quality paper. Writing cards is definitely my privileged means of communication. I’m a big fan of post, sending and receiving.
CK: What else do you do at your desk? Do you have a desk routine?
SR: First of all, writing: the cards, lists, to-do lists. Every collection comes with a mood board, and I write everything in notebooks and really exciting e-mails. I like to listen to music, but with my headphones on so I can be in my zone. I’ll have a breakfast tea with no milk or sugar. Just once a day. I am not really into eating around the desk though. I also really love working at the desk in the evening. I like natural light, but there’s nothing like working under a warm, low light.
CK: What can you tell us about your furniture. Will any surface do for writing, or do you have a stricter ritual?
SR: When I need to put pen to paper, whether it’s corresponding or using my computer, I need to sit at the desk. This desk was originally in my father’s store in Mount Street. I think it’s mid-century, and they bought it in a gallery in Paris. It was used for display, so when he closed the shop in Mount Street a decade ago, it was waiting to find out where it would go.
When I opened my own studio, the desk was the first thing to get there. The truth is, in a working setting, I don’t like sitting opposite people because it doesn’t foster a very collaborative atmosphere. It feels more like an interview. I would always try to arrange the chairs in a way that would feel less ‘office-y’. But then, when we moved to this house, in this very large room, I decided to be very greedy and bring it here.
CK: George Bernard Shaw [the Irish playwright and critic] had a rotating writer’s hut in his garden to have multiple viewpoints. What is your ultimate desk fantasy?
SR: I feel very blessed; I feel I have it right here. I also have a smaller desk in my bedroom upstairs. Also black. I’ve always really enjoyed black desks. I don’t know what it says about me. I think it’s because you can see everything, it’s nice and clean. I changed the position of this one in order to get full light and full space.
CK: All of our customers have different things that they treasure over everything else (for example, paper.) What’s your stationery pick?
SR: I love wrapping – paper and ribbon. Although the paper is humble at times, I add satin ribbon and decorations. I love 0.5 or 0.7 mechanical pencils too and buy them in bulk.
CK: You know you’re not supposed to put the lead in from the front, right?
SR: I shouldn’t be putting any in at all! It’s a disaster! But I’ve bought some pencils just for myself, not office-related, and it feels good. I also love markers. I use them a lot. I only use black and red, never blue. I have work stationery too, which I always write on in red although I know it’s taboo.
CK: If you know the rules, you can break the rules.
SR: I need to break the monotony, I need people to know it’s me writing to them . . .
CK: Gift-giving has a crucial performative element to it. The ritual of it, the paper, the ribbon, the bag, everything contributes. How do you like to give or receive gifts?
SR: I must admit that people have often said they do not like buying me gifts. It’s funny because I think about myself as the opposite of fussy, but I have been told I am too difficult. I like to think it’s because I love gift-giving so much that they feel under pressure. I’ve received presents wrapped in tin foil! But I love Christmas. I’ve bought all the lacy cards and used them as buntings. I had all the cat garlands hanging on the mantelpiece.
CK: When you shop for gifts or for yourself, what is most important to you? Is it how products are made, where they come from, if they will last?
SR: When things are personal, they always resonate more. When you fall in love with something and you find out the history of the product, that makes you love it even more and makes you want to find out a bit more about it too. I love the European aesthetic, but also I buy Japanese inks and stuff for my desk at home. I think it is really important to know how things are crafted. But I am not too precious about it. I’d say that I am a quite practical person; that aspect always factors in when I make my purchases. I am also a creature of habit. But I always try to go for one little thing I wouldn’t go for otherwise. Like these Wallace Seymour pastels.
CK: They are one of the few British products that we carry in the shop. They are the absolute experts in pigments. And we really wanted the chunky ones because they are easier to hold.
SR: Fantastic, now I need to find the right paper for those.
CK: Have you ever considered introducing paper or other types of materials to your creations?
SR: I use a lot of ribbons, either lacing through garments or as embroideries. We do a lot of fabric manipulation like that. I think it would be so amazing to make clothes that look like paper. Paper dolls have always factored in our creations. It is a bit impractical, but maybe a couple of pieces would work. I was obviously attracted to the lace cards because we do a lot of lace.
CK: Why lace?
SR: We do a lot of Carrington lace. My mother-in-law has some framed lace at home that her family would personalise, like a home stitch. We bring a lot of that to the practice. We design our own personal stitches, we design everything in the studio by hand, so it could be cotton embroidery thread on tulle, or it could be cotton and cotton with cutouts, a sort of Anglais. We experiment with different textures like chenille and acrylic tinselly-type things, so you can end up with something more humble or kitsch or something more utilitarian. It is a lot about connecting the more feminine and playful with the functional. It’s the mix that interests me.
CK: Yes, it also has a lot to do with context. There is an awareness of irony at Choosing Keeping, which we share with our customers – a humorous nod of reciprocal understanding. Does humour play a role in your brand world?
SR: Humour is so important. Even if not everyone reads it, it is there.
CK: On irony, do you like this Choosing Keeping notebook, or is it too cottage core? Do you like roses?
SR: Oh no, I love roses, it’s perfect. I love them in bloom, I love them in decay, I love them in bud. I absolutely love growing them and styling them. I think having flowers from the garden in your house is the ultimate luxury and my absolute joy. I always have a vase of flowers on my desk, both desks, downstairs and upstairs. That is my big pleasure.
