Yet again Daniel Roseberry’s collection for Schiaparelli haute couture spring/summer 2024 was nothing short of a triumph. It’s the collection I most look forward to each couture season and Roseberry has yet to disappoint.
This collection took inspiration from Elsa Schiaparelli’s uncle Giovanni – known for discovering a series of channels, an area as large as the Grand Canyon, on the surface of Mars. Giovanni also coined the term “martian” which inadvertently began our modern-day fascination with other-worldly creatures.
It is therefore quite fitting that this collection would pay homage to this notion. Couture is often seen as an alien concept to those who don’t understand the artistry. Schiaparelli, in particular, has never been afraid to experiment with proportions, fabrics and silhouettes. Creating avant-garde pieces that are always unexpected and new.
The looks in this collection honour Elsa’s tradition of combining old world techniques with new world shapes, patterns, and references. A perfect example of this is seen in the seventh look. A robot dress with exaggeratedly rounded shoulders, embroidered with Swarovski crystals, microchips and other pre-2007 electronical artefacts. “The technology I grew up with is so antiquated that it’s almost as difficult to source as certain vintage fabrics and embellishments” said Roseberry in the collections press release.
Other standout pieces include the “creature” dress featuring nude petal embroidery for a scale affect and Schiaparelli’s signature keyhole cut out. A satin suit with exaggerated rounded shoulder and XXL sleeves. Vertiginous necklines, unstructured collars, asymmetrical ballgowns, and tops mounted on metal structures were also seen throughout.
Perhaps the most alien sight of all, at a Schiaparelli couture show, was the simple off-white ribbed jersey top. The simplicity of the top however was juxtaposed by the model carrying a foam doll, that was fully embroidered with crystals and analogue technology devices.
Roseberry perfectly summed up the collection in the show notes. Describing it as “part human, part something else. And, therefore, totally Schiaparelli.”