Elsa Schiaparelli. What to wear before the end of the world?

He’d probably look good in a soutane. He’s got the soulful tone of a pastor. A black beard with graying, an attentive gaze. He never seems to raise his voice when answering interviewers’ questions or giving orders to his stylists and cutters. His studio at Place Vendome is also mostly silent, almost like a prayer room. No fuss, no extraneous sounds come through the double windows and doors of the old 18th century Parisian mansion Hotel de Fontpertuis, which for many years served as the official address of the fashion house of the great Italian Elsa Schiaparelli. For the last five years it has been run by a quiet American from Texas, Daniel Roseberry.

Haute Couture does not tolerate overseas outsiders. In all these years, only one Tom Ford tried to take the outpost of European luxury – the House of Yves Saint Laurent – and suffered a cruel defeat. Paris rejected him decisively and unceremoniously. Then French fashion critics agreed that there is an organic incompatibility of the American mentality and the very idea of Haute Couture. They say that Americans, even the most enlightened and advanced, will never understand how it is possible to spend 300 hours sewing an evening dress that will be worn only two or three times!

Deadly offended Ford will try to take revenge, creating his own fashion house in New York and producing small, compact, luxurious collections for a select few. But no more Paris!

Daniel Roseberry’s situation was different. No one in Paris knew him. He was a man from nowhere. A mysterious visitor in a modest denim jacket, short canvas pants, and athletic sneakers. He also didn’t speak French. An unforgivable sin in the eyes of the French! All we knew about Daniel was that he had spent 11 years at Thom Browne, where he served as creative director. Quality, moderately priced clothes for every day. No pretensions! By Parisian standards, not such a stellar biography. The idea to invite him belonged to Diego Della Valle, the owner of Tod’s Group, a major player in the luxury market. Back in 2006, he bought the historic Schiaparelli brand from the designer’s heirs, and since then he has been trying in vain to reclaim a decent position for him in the fashion world. Almost ten years of losses and skeptical predictions: could Schiaparelli rise from oblivion? What did it have to do with?

QUEEN AND HER ENTOURAGE

First of all, with the style and personality of Elsa Schiaparelli herself, or as she called herself for simplicity and brevity, Schiap. To copy her findings of the 1930s is pointless, and to repeat something similar is impossible. She was too tightly embedded in the pre-war cultural landscape of Europe. She was too vivid and alluring a figure in her own right. Strikingly, it was Schiaparelli managed to gather and unite around his fashion house all the Parisian artistic life. Poets, artists, composers, social divas, theater and film stars – they all made up Schiaparelli’s small court, where she not only reigned, but served as an inexhaustible source of energy, daring fantasies and new ideas.

She was the first to venture into the territory of pure art. Before her, Haute Couture existed there as a welcome but occasional guest. They expected expensive gifts from her, but were in no hurry to share their discoveries and insights with her. And anyway, what is fashion compared to eternity?

Schiaparelli put an end to this talk once and for all. In her understanding, fashion is always art. The human body is the main masterpiece of God, and in this case the fashion designer is nothing more or less than God’s assistant on earth, as he is called to reveal to the world all the beauty of divine creations.

“STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN!”

These statements and philosophizing Skiap terribly annoyed many of her colleagues, including Mademoiselle Chanel, never tired of repeating that she herself is only a bona fide artisan, and fashion – it’s just a business. And do not need to pretend to be a lofty nature, if you are trading knitted sweaters and expensive perfume. “Oh, already this Italian,” – hissed through his teeth Chanel, when she reported on the next success of her neighbor in the Place Vendôme (Chanel’s permanent residence for many years was in the Ritz Hotel).

That Skiap will release a bottle for perfume in the form of an exciting silhouette of Hollywood diva Mae West, then comes up with a hat in the form of a shoe with a heel up, for which then all the fashionistas of Paris will fight, then created a black dress in the form of a skeleton or a dress with a lobster on the hem … Her daring inventions are not numbered. But most importantly, they were all commercial successes. It seemed that the world went mad, trying to escape, to hide from the pre-war reality in an endless pink dream, which was staged by an enterprising Italian woman. Shocking Pink is not only the most fashionable color of the season. But a kind of declaration of freedom and independence. A challenge to any grayness and dull practicality, which Mademoiselle Chanel insisted on. Years later, this color would be appropriated by porn salons and adult establishments. But in Schiaparelli’s time, her Shocking Pink was worn by respectable ladies, mothers of families and even wives of statesmen.

“STOP, LOOK and LISTEN.” This was the motto chosen for the opening of her Schiap Shop on Place Vendome in February 1935. But at the same time the theme of almost all her collections. It is not enough to look at them, they must be “listened to” like atonal music, read like a “stream-of-consciousness” novel. A Schiaparelli dress is always a work of art, an art-object that requires a corresponding attitude to its happy owner.

The success was tremendous. There was no newspaper or magazine that would not write about her new collections and herself. At one point, Skiap even had the idea of producing a special fabric at Colcombert manufactories, where instead of printed designs would be reproduced articles and headlines dedicated to her. She, of course, was a genius of advertising and marketing, who managed to get ahead of not only the competition, but also fashion trends for decades ahead. But the whole business, the whole logic of artistic search was built around her image – a small, extravagant, unsmiling Italian woman. This was her strength, but at the same time her vulnerability. It is clear that without her the House of Schiaparelli could not have existed for a day. However, it seems that it was not supposed to. In 1954, Elsa, desperate to fit her business into the rapidly changing post-war reality, closed her house, after which she made no attempt to sell the brand, although she lived for a long time.

THE SON OF A PRIEST

American Daniel Roseberry is different: he hates self-promotion. Almost never gives interviews. He does not consider himself Schiaparelli’s heir and does not claim to be. At the same time, there is no one in the world who would be so deeply immersed in her work and in the details of her personal life, who would be so easily oriented in the history of the house and collections of different years. Danielle knows everything: in which season Schiap launched military jackets and camouflage print taffeta, when she introduced “hard chic” – wide shoulders for suits and coats, which fabric went on the “teardrop” dress based on Salvador Dali’s designs… The surreal world of Elsa Schiaparelli at the V&A Museum in 2026 awakened a true fashion historian in Danielle. In the exhibition, museum-quality, historic dresses are skillfully mixed with Haute Couture pieces from Roseberry’s own new collections. This is probably the only liberty he took with his predecessor, and that was probably under pressure from the museum curators.

But where they certainly coincided was in their original attitude towards Haute Couture as the realization of some divine plan, as pure art and creativity.

– The God of fashion is alive,” Daniel says, his eyes sparkling as if he were standing in a pulpit or church pulpit, not in a fashionable Parisian boutique. – He is immortal. I think fashion has to be something that inspires people, that unites people, like a church.

PARADE LIKE A MASS

As the son of a priest, Daniel was well versed in the ritualistic side of church life. Even now, he can’t imagine missing a Sunday service at St. Trinity Anglican Church on George V Avenue. For him, everything to do with faith and the Anglican Church is such a reserved territory of his soul, his life, where he doesn’t let anyone else in. Only once Daniel admitted that as a child in the church service always drew. His mom would bring a sketchbook and a ballpoint pen, and then quietly hand it to him so as not to attract anyone’s attention. It was the best way to sit through all the long ceremonies, sermons and hymns.

– So what did you paint?

– Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer from the movie Batman Returns.

What fascinated Daniel so much is still unclear. The special slippery plastic? The tight black latex suit? The low, husky voice (“You’re the sixth man to kill me this week. Keep killing me.”)? But then this catwoman would cross over to him on the runway in a variety of guises. He also loved Disney movies! Like all American kids, Daniel grew up on them.

– “Beauty and the Beast” is, in my opinion, the ultimate love story that has forever settled in my soul and made an imprint on my upbringing.

He’s excited by fairy tale characters. In general, the aesthetics of fairy tales, dreams, illusions. And here, too, he strangely coincided with Elsa Schiaparelli, who liked to populate her collections with various exotic creatures, poisonous snakes, insects, animals, birds.

– At one point I wondered: what kind of clothes would I like to see before the End of the World? Would everything around me be as black, gloomy, joyless? Actually, what we are used to every day, going down the subway and on the street. No, I thought, I had to dress differently for Judgment Day.

GOLDEN PIGEON

Daniel staged his first collection for Schiaparelli as a kind of performance. In the center of the platform stood a lonely easel table with a lamp. On it lay white sheets of absorbent cotton. Daniel appeared, put on his headphones, sat down at the table, picked up a pencil and began to draw, immersed in the creative process. And all around him, to the sounds of the subway and street noise, the models would walk in a slow line. First, a succession of impeccably cut blazers on the naked body. Then a cage dress woven from crystals. Then a leather cocktail dress with a sculptural silhouette.

They came one after another, space aliens with impassive faces and smoothly licked hair, in their armor of metal roses, precious snakes, diamond collars, gold plates, as if they had been taken from Scythian mounds. And Daniel kept drawing and drawing… And his drawings seemed to materialize before our eyes for a moment, only to disappear immediately. It was magical!

Nothing like this has been seen in world fashion for a long time. The name Schiaparelli was once again on everyone’s lips. All the stars, as if on cue, rushed to try on outfits and jewelry from Daniel’s new collections. And already a golden dove with an olive branch in its beak adorned Lady Gaga’s dark blue jacket during the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States Joe Biden. The dove, and the suit itself, were delivered to Washington directly from Place Vendôme in Paris the day before the ceremony.

Or the famous leather gloves decorated with gold claws that Beyoncé wore to the Grammy Awards. These are also Schiaparelli, but of the 21st century!

Or Cate Blanchett’s black gown with its impossibly puffy white wing sleeves, which literally outshone all the outfits at the online Golden Globes in 2021. Or the pink top, “splattered” with beads, as if with ink, in which Nicole Kidman shone at the Venice Festival in 2024… All these masterpieces by Daniel Roseberry have already become a legend, a great fashion history, the right candidates for future museum showcases and exhibitions.

DREAMS ARE EXPENSIVE

But Daniel himself isn’t looking that far ahead. He recently confessed in an interview for The New York Times that now that the house has been rebuilt, he will have to lay the foundations for a new business.

– If the House of Schiaparelli is to become more than just red carpet and couture, it must become more accessible.

And for this, it is necessary to invent and establish the production of new perfumes that would provide a stable income. The recipe of Schiaparelli perfume has been preserved, but their fragrances, according to Danielle, are outdated and no longer fit the spirit of today’s time. A second pret-a-porter clothing line is needed. Daniel has recently launched it, but it is still a trial run, sold only in one department store in the US. He makes no secret of the fact that so far everything has been hampered by the small size of his team. At Place Vendome, he has a staff of only twenty-five people. Two are responsible for couture, two for bags, two for shoes and so on. That’s not enough for a big turnover. It would be nice to think about more democratic prices for accessories. The ones on display in the boutique now cost astronomical sums of money. “However, dreams always cost a lot!” sighs Danielle.

He has only one dream and one wish: to be able to spend more time in the Tuileries garden, a stone’s throw from his office. If the weather permits, Daniel goes there an hour and a half before work with his sheets of paper, markers and pens. As he once did in the temple where his father served, he draws and sketches for future collections. The Tuileries garden is at his disposal almost all year round. Daniel’s private study is outdoors. And this is a great privilege of his life in Paris. The gardeners and garden attendants know him by sight. And jogging enthusiasts say hello as they run past: “Bonjour, monsieur”.

Daniel admits that, immersed in his painting, he does not always have time to answer them and is very worried at the thought that the courteous French may take him for a provincial or ignorant.

– Everyone here is so gentilier,” he smiles guiltily.

– Aren’t you?

– I’m learning to be French. But I’m not very good at it yet.

– What do you do best?

– Probably sketching for future collections.

– What’s the worst part?

– Being cynical.

– Schiaparelli once went to New York to start a new life. You, on the other hand, left New York to pursue a career in Paris. You don’t think you’ll ever go back?

– Not a day goes by that I don’t think about New York and my return. But all in good time.

ZIMA members will soon visit the Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art exhibition at the V&A in London. In order not to miss interesting meetings, trips and always be aware of the rich cultural life of our project, join the ZIMA club and subscribe to the ZIMA newsletter and social networks. You can find out more about the club and membership options by clicking here.