5 things to know about Schiaparelli’s ode to couture romance

Couture fashion’s biggest risk taker Daniel Roseberry doesn’t consider himself a provocateur, but, he tells British Vogue: “Being an American and from a place as far away from Paris’s Place Vendôme as Texas is, I feel permission and even a sort of empowerment to ask questions, challenge, and breathe some fresh air into the traditions of couture.” On a quest to inspire rather than challenge people, through his rambunctious odes to Elsa Schiaparelli’s work, here’s what the industry’s bright spark conjured up for the Schiaparelli couture autumn/winter 2021 collection.

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AW21 is a volte-face from last season

“Last season started with a real desire to challenge the way couture asks its wearer to look and the traditional notions of beauty,” Roseberry explains of pressing pause on his riotous mission to deconstruct couture. “This collection is almost like a surrender to the codes and traditions of couture to the point of fetishising them.” His unabashedly pretty and ornate edit of pastel frou-frou gowns and sculptural cocktail dresses frosted with Schiaparelli’s signature bijoux is heart-flutteringly whimsical. “Sometimes you have to rebel against beauty in order to return to it,” says the designer of the freedom with which he allowed himself to go full throttle into couture dreamland this season.

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Roseberry references the couture greats

To help him engage in couture mode, the Texan creative looked to the work of Elsa’s peers. “In a way, I felt like I was in conversation with Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Alaïa, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and even Margiela—kind of closing the loop and bringing it full circle,” he explains of paying homage to the bastions of the couture art form, who often paid their respects to one another. (Yves, for example, once created a couture collection in tribute to Elsa). All of Roseberry’s references of course lead back to Schiaparelli. From the vintage swatches from the French embroider Lesage dating back to the ’30s, to a reinterpretation of the iconic Cocteau jacket, and the shredded black bin bags that are knitted together, autumn/winter 2021 is Roseberry’s most true—if abstract—ode to Elsa’s legacy.

schiaparelli jacket — Courtesy of Schiaparelli

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Jackets are a key focus

While spring/summer 2021 celebrated bijoux on a grand scale, this time around it’s all about the fabrications of the uniquely constructed garments. “I really wanted to take that bold audacity [of the jewellery] and execute it through the embroidery, and really own embroidery in that way,” asserts Roseberry. Entitled Matador, the three-part collection first homes in on Schiaparelli jackets from the past. A white matador-inspired cropped jacket is rendered in denim and embellished with embroidered barrel sleeves and black silk tassels; a black wool crêpe jacket with curved sleeves blooms with dozens of shell-pink silk roses is a joyous tribute to that Jean Cocteau X Schiaparelli masterpiece from 1937; and the multicolour peau de soie opening look is made up of archive Schiaparelli swatches collaged together.

lung necklace — Courtesy of Schiaparelli

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Lungs never looked so beautiful. Yes, lungs

The second part of the collection hones in on the body and bijoux, including a pair of gold-dipped lungs worn over a black crêpe gown. “I was thinking about our emergence from this time of COVID, and wanting to pay tribute to the idea of breathing, crystalising the lungs to make them eternal,” he explains. “We spend so much time thinking about and obsessing over these parts of our bodies that we cannot see, and the lungs are a way of almost capturing that relationship that we have with our own breathing.” Too abstract to wear to dinner? The lip-shaped minaudière and hand-clasped belt which hugs the wearer’s waist are bound to become red-carpet mainstays.

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And the bride wore 70 metres of tulle…

While the third part of the collection celebrates colour—from Schiaparelli’s signature shocking pink to cornflower blue and flamboyant terracotta orange—the most striking piece is the pure white bridal look. Crafted from over 70 metres of winter white taffeta, 100 metres of tulle and 22 metres of silk faille, it took three members of the atelier three weeks to create. “We ran out of space, so I had to give up my office for a month while they finished,” shares Roseberry. Was it worth it? Hell, yes.

This article was originally published on British Vogue.