THE ELEGANCE OF SCHIAPARELLI

“Elsa Schiaparelli was born with a shock device in her hand.”

This was how Vogue’s former fashion editor, Bettina Ballard, described her in 1960, 33 years after Schiaparelli launched her career as a fashion designer with Vogue.

Elsa saw herself primarily as an artist, and it is truly amazing to witness her legacy still living on and inspiring others through the work of Daniel Roseberry. No one can look at his creations and deny their artistic essence.

With every collection, Roseberry delves into the Schiaparelli archive and manages to revive her spirit. Both share a deep appreciation for the feminine figure, and their designs accentuate women’s waists, shoulders, and silhouettes.

The SS 2024 collection showcases two distinct themes and pays homage to different influences. One side of the collection draws inspiration from Elsa’s fascination with astrology and her uncle’s discovery on the surface of Mars, who also coined the term ‘martian’.

On the other side, the collection nods to Roseberry’s home state of Texas, featuring bandanas made from hand-made paillettes and thigh-high cowboy boots.

Throughout the line, Elsa’s unique signatures such as the keyhole, measuring tape, and body parts are scattered like hidden treasures.

This collection showcases the intriguing tension between “legacy” and “avant-garde,” as well as the contrast between the “earthbound” and the “heaven-sent.”

My favourite pieces

I really love every piece from this collection. It’s incredibly satisfying to witness the craftsmanship unfold, as showcased on Schiaparelli’s Instagram profile. The studio scenes reveal a vibrant ensemble of young individuals engaged in hand-stitching, creating pure magic.

One of my fav pieces is the “creature” dress with exaggeratedly rounded shoulders and a slit front, embellished with nude petal embroidery with a “scale” effect, some encrusted with tonal micro-sequins. 

It has matching balaclava with hand-painted black resin false eyelashes and hair. 

Second one is a dress with exaggeratedly rounded shoulders inspired the iconic skeleton dress imagined Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali in 1936, entirely embroidered in blush chenille velvet bangs and embellished with trompe l’œil tonal padded bones. 

Absolutely beautiful jewelry details- hybrid geometric earring with turtle motif enhanced with Swarovski crystals.

Third one is the robot dress enhanced with exaggeratedly rounded shoulders entirely embroidered with Swarovski crystal jewels and electronic chips in silver and green, described as “The motherboard, the microchips, the couture crafstmanship. Old world techniques and new world technologies.”

Roseberry

In an interview for System-magazine by Jerry Stafford, Daniel Roseberry said:

„When I first started (working for the house of Schiaparelli) I had no interest in tapping into the heritage because I felt it had already been the focal point of prior years. I really tried to re-establish the voice of the house and make it personal. When I felt that we had done that on some level, I was able to return to her work. I have been truly blown away, humbled and proven wrong about the relevance that her work still has. The more I reference her work and use it as a starting point, the better it makes my work. Her legacy feels like an untold story. She was the kind of person, with her voice and her personality and her character, who if I met her at a dinner party, I would be probably the most intimidated to talk to. That’s probably why I’ve refused to read her biographies.“

In today’s scene, where designers often seem to either replicate or compromise the legacy of the original brand creators, it requires genuine skill and ingenuity to keep the brand’s DNA and make it personally resonant- Daniel Roseberry has it all.