Daniel Roseberry propels Schiaparelli beyond the earthly realms and into the cosmic unknown in the Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2024 show
The Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2024 collection catapults to the cosmos. Creative Director Daniel Roseberry, donned in a metaphorical spacesuit, takes the runway on a voyage that is nothing short of otherworldly—because it is inspired by the otherworldly.
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In the Schiaparelli household, exploring space was a shared family interest. These moments of fascination with the cosmos eventually led Elsa Schiaparelli’s uncle, Giovanni, to make significant discoveries and coin the term “martian.” Little did he know, this inadvertent exploration sparked our enduring intrigue with extraterrestrial beings, a curiosity that persists to this day.
At the House of Schiaparelli, space wasn’t just a theme limited to planets; it was a unique design element. Schiaparelli had a genuine interest in astrology, same with her uncle, that it constituted a distinct look to the outlook of the House. Beyond everything, it’s all apparent in the clothes created thus far, as if continuing that legacy.
This collection pays homage to an intense fascination‚ an obsession intertwined with a study in contradictions. This paradox maneuvers the equilibrium between tradition and innovation, aesthetics and provocation, the terrestrial and the ethereal. Picture cowboys in a rendezvous with aliens, and you have this collection. Welcome to Schiaparalien.
The dresses, as Schiaparelli is known for, are sculptures, curved and molded to reach Saturn. Each piece is a play on vast proportions, featuring angles that feel extraterrestrial in the sense that they almost serve to look like antennas to channel spaceships. The floor-length beaded fringes defy gravity, moving energetically, challenging the roots of earthly bounds.
In a daring departure from the expected, a gown emerges of Y2K technology collage transforming the antiquated and seemingly useless elements into embellishments of modern haute couture, a spectacle almost uncharacteristic of Schiaparelli. Further, in another look, a fake baby is embellished with Swarovski crystals and circuit boards, carried as a surreal accessory.
A unification of Schiaparelli’s legacy with Roseberry’s Texan touches is evident in this collection. Texas permeates the aesthetic, from colossal fringes inspired by bandanas to cowboy boots reimagined as thigh-high fantasies brimming with buckles, reminiscent of a Barbarella adventure. A camel suede bomber jacket and a gleaming white corset suit nod to yeehaws and absolution.
As art and nature continually impart, concepts and entities that appear fundamentally opposed can conform and adjust, giving rise to remarkable unions. They are creations formed from familiar components that, when fused, birth something entirely novel and unexpected. Daniel Roseberry has made something entirely different from and for the Schiaparelli house, one that Elsa Schiaparelli herself is looking down upon, smiling from space.
Photos and Featured Image: SCHIAPARELLI
