Fiona Shaw walks the runway in Simone Rocha's London Fashion Week show

Simone Rocha championed not only Irish fashion at London Fashion Week, but one of the country's most prominent actors, as she invited Fiona Shaw to walk the runway at her fashion show this afternoon.

Known for her sumptuous designs that blend both coquettish Romanticism and melancholy influences, Rocha brought her latest collection to Goldsmiths' Hall in London, where Shaw was joined on the runway by model, designer and presenter Alexa Chung and actor Andrea Riseborough.

Speaking to Vogue before the show, Rocha explained that her vision for this collection was to go back to basics, in a sense: "It came from this place of wanting to do, and do it well, essentially."

Despite the sun finally coming out for us at home, Rocha leaned into the fall/winter collection, introducing faux fur elements, chunky harnesses and a dark colour palette that contrasted with sheer organza dresses, pastel satins and - of course - plenty of bow detailing.

Myth and storytelling is never far from a Simone Rocha collection, and this one was no different. The designer referenced The Tortoise and the Hare, Aesop's classic fable. Speaking to Vogue, she said: "To me, it's really a tale about telling your story in your own way and being comfortable in your own skin.

"So when I started looking back on my collections, I was thinking about twisting them, slicing them, stitching them back together and reinterpreting them for today."

Contrasting these storybook elements were suiting and shirts that were inspired by school uniforms Rocha recalls wearing as a child in Dublin. This was most clearly seen in the menswear looks, with brogues and rugby shirts among the offerings.

Rocha also channelled characters through her designs, drawing inspiration from school years and the archetypes encountered there. It was for this reason, she told Vogue, that she enlisted veteran actor Fiona Shaw as the pseudo-headmistress - drawing on her stoic and flinty demeanour.

Shaw walked the sumptuously carpeted runway in a voluminous, tiered black satin dress, with a high neckline, pockets and metallic chain detailing at the bust and under the knees, with a harness to add edge.

Alexa Chung also took to the runway, wearing an oversized leather jacket, a faux fur bustier and a fringed black skirt, clearly channelling the 'bad girl' archetype and carrying a chunky leather backpack for good measure.

Rocha also revisited classic motifs from her previous collections, aiming to create "something that felt very authentically me".

A retrospective look at her collections makes sense for the designer, considering she released her first monograph - the first comprehensive look at her work over the past decade - published by Rizzoli last September.

Born in Dublin in 1986, Rocha graduated from Central Saint Martin's College in 2008 and made her debut at London Fashion Week just two years later.