Schiaparelli Goes for Golden Age Glamour at Paris Fashion Week
When it comes to Daniel Roseberry’s dazzling vision for Schiaparelli, one can almost always expect gilded details, Surrealism, and sculptural wonders. For spring 2023 ready-to-wear, we got all those things and more—but with a more straightforward, glamorous approach.
The intimate presentation took place at Hôtel d’Evreux in Place Vendome, where Kylie Jenner and Christine Quinn wandered among models wearing slick suit coats festooned with golden nipples and scarlet tube tops trimmed with ruching. These looks were strikingly dramatic, sure, but in a much quieter way than Roseberry’s previous works, and his so-often-only-associated-with-couture work for Schiaparelli.
For spring 2023, Roseberry mulled how to contextualize the everyday within the superfluous haute couture mood he’s worked so hard to build since joining the house in 2019 as creative director. “It felt like the right time to open the conversation up to things that were more wearable in a way, but still extraordinary,” he told W. “I think it’s like, people know us for the couture, and everyone wants to take a piece of it home. This collection was about that opportunity beyond just jewelry, tailoring, even trousers.”
What does the everyday look like in the Schiaparelli world? White button-downs streaked with flecks of gold sunburst rays, tailored blazers done in severe black with nipple buttons made specifically by a jeweler, a skirt suit figuratively crawling with hyperreal beaded ants, angelic draped column dresses accessorized with gilded anatomical cuffs, and twisted rosette-like cone bra bustiers. Also: lots more footwear with golden toes (this time, produced beyond the special order process that barricaded the masses from getting them in the past) and new versions of Schiaparelli’s anatomical face bags.
Overall, the collection proved to be more refined and grounded in craft and wearability—it was easy to see how many of the various pieces from the collection—like a black oversized button-down with the aforementioned jewelry buttons, a denim jacket embroidered with a sequined sun, or a trompe l’oeil sweater vest with a bikini top—could be integrated into a real wardrobe.
“It’s all inspired by Elsa herself, and this contradiction of discipline with the tailoring with something that feels like a conversation-starter,” Roseberry added. The surrealist lens was taken off for this collection, which did feel like a seismic shift in what Roseberry has been doing: “We’re not just about Surrealism here. When I started three years ago, no one was talking about Surrealism in fashion. [Now,] it’s everywhere. And I think that makes me want to pull back. It makes me want old Hollywood glamor that feels chic and pure and elevated.”
Spring 2023 was less shocking at first glance—but that was kind of the point. The real shock was Roseberry’s hard pivot. That, and the fact that the collection was less about a study of brainy, surrealist takes on Elsa Schiaparelli’s work, and instead, more about connecting the threads of the historic house back to accessible excess. Some things, after all, are more surprising at second glance—like those slip dresses with chunky gold chains as straps. You just might miss them if you don’t look twice.
