Weeks before the show, Diesel shipped off six miles of pristine white fabric—blank canvases sent hurtling into the hands of art students and street crews across China, South Africa, the US, the UK, Europe, and beyond. When the fabric finally returned, it was obliterated in layers of graffiti, scrawled-over by more than 7,000 people.
Simone Rocha still remembers the moment—Miss Ruddock, the school principal, sitting her down and hitting her with the classic: the tortoise and the hare. “In life, you’re either one or the other,” she told her. Rocha, even then, knew exactly where she stood. “I remember coming out thinking, Mmm. I’m so ready to be a tortoise.” And honestly? She was right. Slow and steady gets you somewhere. Fifteen years later, she’s climbed—deliberately, persistently—to near-mythic status in London fashion. Even in an industry that now seems to measure success in influencer impressions (God help us), Rocha’s impact is undeniable.
