Helena Bonham-Carter is preening in a mirror, twirling across my kitchen table. Francesca Hayward is teetering on her pointe shoes, spinning in a pastel pink bubble dress. And here is Djenaba, propping up and playing her cello in layers of tartan and tulle. This all-star cast is not really at my house—well as much as we can say that what is virtual is not real.
The relationship between the artist and the designers has been years in the making. For her second solo show in London at the Cob Gallery, “I’ve Always Been a Weeper at the Cinema,” Wei Wei wore a black dress and headband from Rocha’s fall 2020 collection that paid homage to the work of Louise Bourgeois. One season later, Wei Wei was in Rocha’s front row, sitting alongside other multi-hyphenates like Phoebe Collings-James and Greta Bellamacina.
Working in a new medium has also pushed Wei Wei to consider adding new elements to her oeuvre. She’s made a series of secret ceramics during lockdown—not seen by many eyes yet, but surely magical in their own right. She also says that filmmaking is on her agenda, maybe post-pandemic.Photo: Courtesy of H&M
For now, though, she will rightly celebrate her accomplishments with Rocha—including her billboard in Piccadilly Circus. “My mum and dad went to see it!” she says, with a smile. “It was amazing to see myself like that. I wouldn’t have ever imagined I would be on a billboard, but then I was thinking how it would have been so nice if someone who looks like me was on a billboard when I was growing up—to show you didn’t have to be size zero to do that.
In this, Wei Wei touches on another crucial element of the Rocha world—its kindness to people of all strokes. In the campaign, she stars alongside Hayward, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Tess McMillan, and so many more inspiring artists from all facets of the world. “Even since we finished the shoot, we have all been in contact, so it’s been really nice to not only be a part of this project, but to also meet and make friends with people that are clearly picked out by Simone,” Wei Wei says.
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