Very few designers could get the London Fashion Week crowd to Alexandra Palace on a Sunday afternoon, but Simone Rocha had everyone hiking up to North London’s highest point. Inside the Grade II listed building’s theatre, Rocha had a front row of Fontaines D.C. band members alongside the likes of Paloma Elsesser, Arlo Parks, Jazmin Sawyers, Chloe Fineman and Alexa Chung. As the beat of Cat Power’s A Pair of Brown Eyes echoed through the theatre, the lights went up, and the curtains lifted on a collection steeped in Irish folklore and heritage.

Tír na nÓg lies at the centre of this season’s Simone Rocha offering, exploring the stories which populate the Celtic Otherworld and depicting a cast of characters orbiting in a land of eternal youth and immortality. The opening look was dupped a “white pony”, brought to life in a white dress composed of embroidered laces and delicate embellishment, setting the tone for a series of looks that revelled in the sublime. Shapes harked back to garments from the 1920s or 1940s, reimagined in elevated tweed tailoring or blooming skirts built from satin bows, while lingerie peeked out from sheer organza, and voluminous bomber jackets were adorned with shearling trim.

Alongside the mythology of underworld youth, Perry Ogden’s Pony Kids 1999 photo book, featuring black-and-white portraits of 20th-century Dublin youth, offered an alternate perspective on growing up in Ireland. The ethereal touches of Rocha’s signature garments were punctuated by a newly launched adidas Originals collaboration, following in the footsteps of likes of Wales Bonner and Pharrell Williams. The sportswear brand’s key silhouettes were given a distinctly Rocha makeover as three-stripe track jackets bloomed at the sleeve, baby pink jersey tops were adorned with frills, and zippers were replaced by a large singular pearl. In a tale of two halves, Rocha successfully painted a comprehensive portrait of youth, mixing folkloric tales with stories from the streets of Dublin.