On Monday, Schiaparelli opened Paris’ Haute Couture Week at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild. There, designer Daniel Roseberry’s surrealist vision—one that has crowned him the unofficial king of the high-fashion week—proposed a new, intricate thesis on who precisely the label’s muse can be. In seasons past, the designer has been responsible for animal-head gowns , martian babies made out of computer chips (one attended today’s showcase), and the most avant-garde takes on founder Elsa Schiaparelli’s signature keyholes, measuring tapes and body parts.
This season, Roseberry’s moldboard was again filled with Elsa’s fame—more pointedly, her ability to transform herself while blazing her historic style trail. At the core of his sources, Roseberry referenced Elsa’s influential 1940s feathered silhouette, which offered an homage to Anna Pavlova’s ‘The Dying Swan’ ballet, per Elle . The image galvanized the line’s opening look—a silver, metallic bird’s feathers, crossed over the body for protection—as well as deep-V tops with extravagant quill and blazers with bird-like lapels and sleeves.
Similar metallic details, in both gold and silver, decorated opulent gowns with voluminous, round shoulders and strapless iterations with orb decals alike. More animalistic references manifested in zebra-printed capes and sheer bodices with three-dimensional horns, while archival shoes dating back to 1938 inspired the chest constructions on elegant dresses and t.
