Schiaparelli Haute Couture: You just have to look up!
The sumptuosity of Parisian Haute Couture is often intellectualized, sometimes criticized by algorithm-driven commentators, and always scrutinized by fashion insiders. Every detail and meaning is examined. Nonetheless, according to Daniel Roseberry’s latest collection for Schiaparelli, Couture is an invitation to feel, not to reflect or overthink. “You just have to look up,” stated Daniel Roseberry in the press release.
Presented on January 26th, at the Petit Palais in Paris, the inspiration for this collection came to Daniel Roseberry during a visit to the Sistine Chapel in Rome. In Michelangelo’s masterpiece, walls and ceiling coexist in juxtaposition. The walls, filled with ecclesiastical motifs, are designed to tell a story and educate, while the ceiling simply exists. It requires no explanation and instead invites the viewer to feel. There, agony and ecstasy intertwine with the terrible and the exquisite.
That inspiration, and the revelation that accompanied it, led Roseberry to incorporate a greater sense of emotion into Haute Couture. By introducing freedom into the rigor inherent to Couture, he allowed the ateliers to perform at the height of their abilities, reaching extremes, creating impact, and moving beyond a scale of grays.
In this collection, freedom is not expressed through fluid shapes and colors, as many might expect, but rather through sharp forms that open a window to the imagination, featuring explosive silhouettes and rich hues. These ranged from tight, sheer skirts in delicate shades crowned by black blazers of varying structures, to voluptuous tulle skirts and gowns with robust bodices, to delicately embellished gowns made of tulle and organza, scattered with crystal shadows in pufferfish-inspired colors and finished with pointed organza details.
There were also arachnid archetypes that culminated in alligator tails, horns, and giant wings sprouting from the backs of jackets, giving them a defiant, reptilian, and arachnid appearance.
Models Lulu Tenney and Awar Odhiang (who closed the show) were enveloped in bird-like feathers that appeared as extensions of their own skin. The feathers, both real and trompe-l’œil silk sprays, were hand-painted, airbrushed, or submerged in resin and crystals. This craftsmanship perfectly illustrates the essence of Couture: to uphold fashion as an art form while preserving the labor and skill of artisans. The collection draws inspiration from the colors of birds of paradise, pinks, blues, and saffron hues.
These chimeric archetypes’ final looks featured two monumental bird beaks projecting from the chest and the back, raising the unsettling question of whether these were birds of paradise or birds of prey. “The tension between the two, and the not knowing, was the point,” stated Roseberry backstage to WWD. The designer cited inspirations as varied as the science fiction film Alien and the philosopher and poet David Whyte, specifically his quote: “Anger is the deepest form of compassion, for another, for the world, for the self, for a life, for the body, for a family, and for all our ideals, possibly about to be hurt.”
Accessories throughout the collection feature artificial bird heads sculpted from silk feathers with resin beaks and pearl cabochon eyes, which were presented in jewelry form. This attests to Roseberry’s ability to create statement jewelry pieces, a category that had already been introduced to the house by Elsa Schiaparelli, who was highly renowned for her avant-garde costume jewelry.
“Many people ask me what the point of haute couture is. It is certainly not about creating clothes for everyday life,” stated Roseberry. And indeed, his collection seems to evoke dreams, emotions, and a distant paradise more than anything quotidian, which is precisely what couture is about.
Words: @edugilhurta