London Fashion Week will be very different this September, after John Rocha has announced he is retiring from it after 29 years.

Rocha told Vogue: “If I stay, I want to have something to say and I always want to keep the standard high. The last couple of collections I looked back on and I thought to myself, ‘that is really the best work I can do’, For the last few years I can see lots of talented people and designers coming up and with so much young talent you have to work so much harder, and I’m not going to do it until I drop!”

Rocha has been showing at London Fashion Week since 1985. Many have been taken by surprise at the news. He went on to tell Vogue why he was retiring: “People ask me why, and it’s because I want to do more with my time. I left Hong Kong in 1971 and I have never been back to spend Chinese New Year with my family because it always falls in February during the shows. In 40 years I have never taken more than ten days holiday at once. At this point in my life I want to live by my calendar and not the Fashion Week calendar. Stopping allows me to do that. It’s not an overnight decision, Odette and I have been talking about it for some time.”

The Rocha name will be carried on by his daughter Simone: “Simone can continue the family tradition in fashion, In the last couple of collections people finally understand what I’m about and I’ve achieved more than I ever thought. But for now I’m embracing the future. It’s time to move on.”