Has the trendy coquette aesthetic peaked? Despite the sea of hair bows, satin ballet slippers, and rosette-adorned tops you see scrolling through Instagram, your favorite retailers, and IRL on the city streets, designer Simone Rocha resoundingly says no. The designer’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection at London Fashion Week featured popular motifs associated with the trend, including lace-up dresses in dreamy pastel hues and floral-embellished corsets. But along with demoing the next iteration of coquette fashion, the runway beauty look is also telling of the trend’s progression.
To complement the romantic and whimsical pieces of Rocha’s collection, lead makeup artist, Thomas de Kluyver hand-painted vine-like black eyebrows with a handful of rosebuds just above the natural brow bones on a few of the models. The arches were inverse, with the tails pointing upwards rather than downwards. To ensure the decal-like drawings were the focal point, the rest of the look was soft and subtle, consisting of matte skin, a light contour, and clear lip gloss. Rocha might be presenting a new way to incorporate trendy rosettes into your look, but it’s not the first time flowers have become makeup at her shows. At her Spring/Summer 2024 collection, models wore giant, navy, hand-painted rosebuds on their cheeks.
The show’s hairstyle also leaned into the theme. Models were given coquette Princess Leia buns by lead hairstylist Eugene Souleiman. After their hair was parted down the center, it was pulled up in low braided buns above the ears reminiscent of the Star Wars character’s signature look. The updos were accessorized with bejeweled earrings or long exaggerated hair bows in shades of white, Robin’s egg blue, or scarlet red.
So if you’re not ready to abandon the internet-favorite aesthetic just yet, Rocha’s F/W ‘24 collection serves as your confirmation to continue embracing it.
