“I’m so tired of everyone constantly equating modernity with simplicity. Can’t the new also be worked, be baroque, be extravagant? Has our fixation on what looks or feels modern become a limitation? Has it cost us our imagination?”
These are the questions Daniel Roseberry posed in the show notes of Schiaparelli’s spring/summer 2025 haute couture presentation. Throughout, he reflects upon the notion of modernity within fashion, how it seems to have lost its way and somehow become synonymous with simplicity. Well, as any fashion aficionado would know, simplicity isn’t exactly Schiaparelli’s modus operandi.
Rather, the intricate and thought-provoking take precedence at a Schiaparelli show, thanks to Roseberry’s unstoppable mind and endless inspiration from equally whimsical archives and the work of his peers. In the case of this haute couture collection, Yves Saint Laurent, Azzedine Alaïa and Paul Poiret were amongst the designers whose works he studied. However, a trip to an antique shop bursting with reams of coloured ribbons - in butter, saffron and burnt browns - was one of the main inspirations for this collection, as well as silhouettes of centuries’ past.
The result is a masterclass in experimentation. New fabrics that replicate old, such as keratin-brushed feathers that evoke Ginger Rogers’ 1930s monkey-fur costumes, and proportions inspired by babydoll dresses created in homage to the 1950s. Elsewhere corsetry and jackets are enhanced with sharpness - skirts jut from the waist with satin flowing beneath, while tops and jackets feature pointed shoulders and busts. Audacious as it may be, Schiaparelli’s spring/summer 2025 haute couture collection is decidedly dreamy, with cascading fabrics, quivering quartz embroideries, ruffles and floral lace no doubt solidifying its place on upcoming awards season carpets.
