The designer’s “Hi, Society” collection and LFW debut was a campy hotel ballroom fantasy of wigs, crochet, glamour and girls behaving badly.
By the time I get backstage at St James’s Court, a Taj Hotel at 11.30am on Sunday, Gui Rosa is already in the thick of it. A blonde wig sits in her hand and another on her head as she moves between friends and family, while her mum speaks to her in Portuguese, pointing towards a door she thinks should probably be closed before the presentation starts. Around her, everyone is on the job. Friends are casting, directing movement, taking photos, helping with the production. Most are familiar faces from Central Saint Martins, where Rosa studied Fashion Print, and where her particular brand first began to take shape.
Rosa has always had a knack for making an entrance. Since her student days, her work has been recognisable for its spiky hats, fun knitwear and an anything-goes approach to craft. After graduating, that sensibility caught the attention of Alessandro Michele, then at Gucci, leading to a capsule collection and short film and a place for her work in Gucci Vault. Now, as one of the BFC’s 2026/27 NEWGEN designers, Rosa is making her on-schedule London Fashion Week debut.
Gui Rosa is telling me about how she still had her makeup from last night on when a male model walks past stark naked, says hello. The designer then screams and bursts out laughing. These are some sights that I’m sure the walls of this hotel in Buckingham Gate have not seen before, which, in a way, is exactly what Rosa’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, “Hi, Society”, is about.
The presentation, inspired by television soaps and her grandmother’s boudoir, takes over the hotel ballroom; it opens with an excerpt from Gossip Girl, where aspiring designer Jenny Humphrey (played by Taylor Momsen) and her fashion partner fight over a ruined collection. Models circulate, argue and pose to the mirror with attitude rather than marching down a runway, blonde, orange and purple wigs bobbing through the space as slinky minidresses, pencil skirts and neon shoes pass between guests. It is glam, but never too polished. A cocktail dress becomes something you could wear at 12pm or 2am. A dress reveals some shorts in the back, a jumper becomes something sexier worn with a skirt.
“I really like the idea of peeking in,” Rosa tells me before the guests start to arrive. “Not just a peek. It feels like I’m really exploding into the room, I like to think.” A familiar cashmere V-neck is paired with a bias-cut chiffon skirt; soft knits sit against laced panels of leather, brass and eyelets. “It’s really an amalgamation of garments that I’ve been working on over the last few years. There’s a lot of your wardrobe staples, but I’m pairing these very soft sorts of fabrics and knits with something a bit tougher. I love tactile elements. I love a bit of grittiness, a bit of brass and glamour. So it’s about combining all those aspects.”
While the presentation is as camp as fabulous as it gets, the craft is serious. Crochet has been central to Rosa’s practice since she learnt it from her grandmother in Lisbon. “Crochet is always in my arsenal. A lot of appliqué, patchworking… I always try to bring couture techniques into ready-to-wear, and use fabrics in different settings.” She says, “There might be a crochet piece, but then it will be mounted onto tulle, how they would mount an organza. I’m always trying to combine different elements of fashion history and craftsmanship, but in a setting that seems a bit unusual in a way.”
When I ask whether she’d like to continue showing as part of London Fashion Week, Rosa is not interested in thinking that far ahead, or doesn’t have the time for it. “I just want to get this one done,” she laughs. “I’m really just into getting this one deranged Catholic party done tonight. Tonight? I’m already calling it the evening.” It’s now 12.30pm. The party is only just getting started.
Words – Moira González
