The Rotting Hour

The central theme of The Rotting Hour is time and its transformative power. It’s the foundation the brand is built upon—an ongoing study of how time’s touch alters all things, in ways both beautiful and unsettling. We see the marks left by time not as something to fear, but something to embrace. They are traces of movement, evidence of lived experience; an accumulation that brings depth and meaning.

The collection explores this transformation through the metaphor of rotting fruit: a story of what is overlooked and dismissed, often associated with the unwanted or the flawed. Yet within this process of decay lies neglected beauty: a richness of colour, a complexity of texture and a poetic shift in form. This collection lives in that duality. It embraces the tension between breakdown and becoming, where beauty is found not in spite of imperfection, but because of it.

The transformative elements of the collection carry this theme forward. We wanted the garments to invite a familiar interaction, one that recreates the physical act of peeling fruit. Many pieces can be folded or opened, shifting silhouettes and revealing what’s hidden beneath. It’s a design language built around touch, where the wearer becomes part of the story by embodying a beauty that once was overlooked.

The ripping, breaking, and bleeding of fruit is reflected in the collection’s details: vents and pleats that move, silhouettes that fall away, and distressed finishings that appear to drip. Fabrics were chosen for their raw, animalistic quality: their earthy depth, organic tones and soft, time-worn textures. Together, they ground the collection in the quiet, inevitable rhythms of nature.

About the Editorial Campaign

The editorial campaign for The Rotting Hour transforms time into a physical presence. Here, she is a figure, watching from afar, following quietly. Until she draws near. You sense her. And when The Rotting Hour Strikes, she is known to all.

Her presence lays claim on you gradually. A hand on the shoulder. A brush along the leg. A shadow that lingers just enough to change what once was. At first, these gestures are subtle, almost imperceptible. Until suddenly, she is no longer beside you: she is within you. Posture slackens. Movements slow. Hair unravels. Bodies descend. In its culmination, time has claimed every layer of you, like candle wax pooling at your feet. Warm, slow, and inevitable.

In this campaign, she becomes part of you. An intimate presence you no longer fear, but carry closer than skin.

Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour man in long black coat with white hand holding pomegranate on shoulder
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour Woman wearing a black blazer and gloves with a red scarf against a brown background
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour portrait of a man in black coat and gloves
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour male and female models with draped two-tone dress and white hands reaching from below
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour female models with draped two-tone dress closing her eyes
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour male and female models with draped dress and black suit with white silk scarf
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour male model in dark clothing with bare female figure observing under candlelight
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour Person in dark outfit sitting on a bed with white decorative elements and candles.
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour model wearing a black outfit with a textured white scarf candle in the background
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour female model wrapped in white silk
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour Three people in a dramatic pose with a dark background and white decorative elements.
Adelina Bernard AW25 The Rotting Hour male model wearing a dark coat against a textured brown background