SCHIAPARELLI SS26

There were two newcomers in the haute couture lineup at this year’s Paris Fashion Week. Both Dior and Chanel came to Paris with their visions of masterful tailoring. Naturally, Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry had to welcome them to the big leagues in style. Now there’s a designer who understands what haute couture really means! 

Fashion-heads want glamor! They want spectacle! They want a model in head-to-toe tulle, with a mind-boggling sculptural ruffle to boot! That’s haute couture, says Roseberry who created this newest collection with the express intent to channel fury into joy. Reality can feel terribly constricting, and this Schiaperreli seemed to strike a nerve among fashion fans— a certain sense that couture fashion could be pushing more boundaries. It’s high art after all. It’s a fantasy that we buy into for the sake of the fantasy itself. 

And there was fantasy alright. The show seamlessly blended Victorian, Draconian, and borderline sci-fi elements, that saw models rocking scorpion tails, bird feathers, and even rhinoceros horns. Schiaparelli gave us nothing short of a new alien species: Creatures of Beauty. There was a powerful, borderline predatory effect in each of the looks, from bird’s wings that mimicked stiff-necked collars, to quills made out of lace. It is a true feat of worldbuilding for looks so fierce to come across so effortlessly elegant. 

It’s worth paying special attention to the balance Roseberry brought to this Schiaparelli collection. While looks that feature protruding tusks may seem as untouchable as it gets, there was a delicate undercurrent. Beneath the stiffened feathers, and armor plates, there was a sheer abundance of tulle—Emphasis on the sheer. Diaphanous fabrics were layered beneath most of the looks, giving the entire collection a poisonous sensuality. 

There’s a good word for this show: Pavonine. It’s a term used to describe something as “peacock-like” but this can be meant in more ways than one. Yes, there were feathers everywhere you looked, but there was also a haughty, distinctly peacockish vibe bleeding from every bullion lace jacket, and satin-scaled dress. True to his word, Roseberry took his own rage and constructed an agonizingly dazzling collection that embodies every bit of the contradiction from which it was born.

But of course, I would be remiss if I did not at least mention that there were moments within the collection that bore striking resemblance to the Mugler’s SS26 show. This is not to say either house has a monopoly on plumage, but certain looks featured unmistakably similar styling and sharpened effects. Arguably, Roseberry’s Schiaparelli did more with the technique, using it to heighten the push-and-pull between beauty and beast. 

There’s a good reason that people are not done talking about this year’s Schiaparelli couture show. It feels good to see a designer use haute couture for its intended purpose. Daniel Roseberry was having genuine fun with these looks. He was creating a fantasy and using every sartorial tool at his disposal to do it. At the end of the day, that is what fashion is all about.