Schiaparelli's surrealism lives for fashion week

Reuters•04/10/2020 à 11:01

PARIS, Oct. 4 (Reuters) - Schiaparelli showcased its third ready-to-wear collection on Sunday, featuring a sleek wardrobe with surrealist touches for next summer.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the collection was presented via a video which showed creative designer Daniel Roseberry sketching it and filming models on the streets of Paris.

"I still feel like I'm living a dream", Roseberry, 35, told Reuters, referring to his journey from his conservative childhood in Texas to his appointement at Schiaparelli in April 2019.

Roseberry designed a wardrobe made of both essential and eye-catching silhouettes expressing a desire to bring the brand forward while honouring the heritage of a house founded by the Italian-born Elsa Schiaparelli in the late 1920s in Paris.

"I can be a nostalgic person but here I'm not, I think it's too intimidating. What Elsa did was so perfect and pure. I'm just trying to do what I think is best and luckily I do feel naturally connected with a lot of what she loved", Roseberry said.

Earlier at Thom Browne, Roseberry offered dark blazers embellished with one-of-kind buttons, voluminous silk dresses for an Haute Couture aura and broderie anglaise attires featuring surrealism faces in his "Elements of Desire" collection.

Stuck in New York during the lockdown, the designer painted on his kitchen table colorful prints of the fabrics drawing inspiration from painters such as Degas, Picasso and Matisse.

Single outfits paired with surrealist accessories like oversized series of Zodiac necklaces, finger jewelry or exaggerated face elements on bags.

The coronavirus pandemic has led many fashion houses to ditch traditional in-person shows for digital events.

Far from being downhearted, Roseberry sees this period as an opportunity for self-reflection about is inner aspirations and a fast-paced industry.

"I desperately want things to change. Everybody knows how fashion was operating before, the wastefulness, the pace, the values (...) this is our chance to recenter and ask the though questions" he said. "I am really exciting about when I could return to a real show but I try to enjoy this moment".

(Reporting Laetitia Volga, Editing by Angus MacSwan)