Sitting behind a black wooden desk in the office of her De Beauvoir East London studio, enormous heaving bookshelves lining the walls behind her, Simone Rocha looks every inch the defiant Victorian heroine, and it’s not even 8.30am. Tendrils of jet black tresses tumble from a topknot that looks to have been hastily tied with a red ribbon; the paleness of Rocha’s complexion only accentuated further by her black dress with its high gathered neckline and perfectly puffed billowing sleeves.

In preparation mode for her upcoming London Fashion Week show in September, the 37-year-old has a daunting schedule ahead. “After this I have a menswear fitting. A shoe meeting. A bag meeting. A catch-up with my womenswear designer. And then at the end of the day, I’ll get in the car with my family and drive seven hours to Land’s End” – fittingly the furthest point in England – “for a week.” She sighs. “Fabulous.”