Inside the V&A's Schiaparelli Exhibition with Creative Director Daniel Roseberry
VOGUE JAPAN
At the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry walks through the galleries with British Vogue's head of editorial content. They pick out a handful of "objects of affection." Some come from Elsa Schiaparelli's own archive and some from Roseberry's collections for the house. The tour keeps returning to one question: what links the founder's surrealist provocations to the house's couture today? Roseberry's answer is that Schiaparelli's legacy is the fusion of art and fashion. In their view, each new piece should be judged by whether it creates a lasting moment rather than simply producing a dress.
Where It Began: The Trompe l'Oeil Bow-Knot Sweater
The tour opens in front of what Roseberry calls Elsa Schiaparelli's first garment: a trompe l'oeil bow-knot sweater from 1927. Roseberry says "everything kind of came from this." To them, the sweater shows her modern view of what belongs in a woman's wardrobe. By legend, she wore it to lunch at the Ritz and caused a sensation.
The interviewer had always linked Schiaparelli with trompe l'oeil but had not realized the origin was so simple. They suggested that the simplicity was probably why it made such an impact. Roseberry agreed, calling it "the simplest idea, but the first, like the origin."
Nearby are tailoring pieces and a newspaper print. Roseberry notes that the print later became John Galliano's version at Dior, and calls this one "the original." From there they list firsts they credit to Elsa Schiaparelli:
- inventing the concept of visual merchandising
- the first unisex fragrance
- the first use of an exposed zipper
- the first themed collections
- the first use of music in runway shows
The Gold Collection: The Archive Pulls the Present In
In the next room, the interviewer is struck by a look they say "literally commands your attention." Roseberry explains that it belongs to what the team calls the gold collection, the house's first return to the runway after lockdown. It is a direct replica of an Apollo embroidery Elsa Schiaparelli made. The motif comes from a fountain at Versailles and was executed by Lesage. Roseberry describes this as the first time something from the archives "really pulled us in," creating a fusion of past and present.
Asked about the original, Roseberry says it belonged to Lady Mendl, a very loyal client, and recalls a photographic portrait of her with a mirror below. They are drawn to how the embroidery "leap[s] out" even in a black-and-white image. The directness of black velvet or black satin with embroidery set straight onto it feels "so Schiap" to them. It also feels predictive of what they call "the digital instant gratification age" we live in now. They value that the piece ties back to the founder yet still feels modern.
Painting Turned into Paillettes: Couture as "One of One"
The interviewer then stops at a dress they had never seen up close. Roseberry names it one of their favorite pieces. It comes from the collection titled Purgatorio, which also went by a second name referring to Schiaparelli and the artist. That season, Roseberry was making anatomical paintings. The team enlarged one to life size and turned every brushstroke into a paillette. The brushstrokes were cut as a puzzle, painted onto plexi, and embroidered onto a knit crochet base.
The interviewer calls this "the absolute epitome" of modern couture. It is one of one, and it could not be replicated because it is literally the designer's hand. Roseberry then sets out their idea of couture. It is the moment for a house to say what it stands for creatively. Because Schiaparelli's legacy is art and fashion, the team tries to "reduce, reduce, reduce" the meaning of every look so it stays as close to art as possible. That, Roseberry says, is what makes it Schiap.
The Matador Jacket and the "Super Bowl Halftime" Brief
The Matador jacket, from fall/winter 2021, strikes the interviewer as playful "in the most high-fashion way." Roseberry calls the Schiap jacket "the thing." It is typically strongly silhouetted, often sharp-shouldered, and heavily embroidered. Jackets across the exhibition room show a lot of play, and Roseberry says that play gives the current team permission to play as well.
On construction, Roseberry explains that they sketch everything beforehand to establish the shapes. However, "the real heartbeat of the collection always happens in 3D," in the fitting. This jacket was the first time in their tenure that the Schiap jacket "announced itself." They recall a conversation with the team built on a scenario. It is a Super Bowl halftime show, and a Schiaparelli pop star rises from the floor. What is she wearing? That led to questions of how embroidered and how "turbo" the piece could get with mirrors under stage lights. Roseberry wanted to fuse pop with archival embroideries in a single garment, saying "there's something so pop about Schiap."
Roseberry adds that the house was closed for almost a century. Partly for that reason, they constantly ask in fittings whether a piece is "museum bound." They describe two mantras: can it be on the cover of a magazine, and can it go into a museum? The interviewer points out that this one did end up in a museum. Roseberry agrees that it happened accidentally, but says that remains the question.
Hats as Provocation
In a room of hats and accessories, the interviewer points to what they believe may be Elsa's most famous hat, and Roseberry agrees. Other hats of the era, Roseberry says, were about making the wearer look more beautiful. This one is not; "it's a provocation." They see her provocation as a distinctive brand that "was never humor to the point of farce." It rests on the surrealist idea of displacement: taking an everyday object into a new context so you see it as if for the first time.
Ariana Grande's Oscars Dress: A Moment, Not Just a Dress
The interviewer links this displacement idea to a dress Roseberry designed for Ariana Grande. When Grande turned around during her performance, the ruby red slippers on the back of the dress made people scream. Roseberry says what they always look for, inspired by pieces like the hat, is "what's going to make it an unforgettable moment, not just a dress."
The team got the call from Grande about two weeks before the Academy Awards. The producers wanted something like a love letter to Los Angeles and to moviemaking, and she was singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which inspired the design.
Asked how a special commission differs from a collection, Roseberry calls couture very personal, "like an intimate dialogue with self." Making something for a performer or celebrity is instead "an act of service." The aim is to let the wearer connect with themselves before a hugely performative moment in their career. As Roseberry puts it, the job is to help her tell a story and make her feel amazing while she does it.
The Lobster Dress and the Mayonnaise That Never Was
The famous lobster dress is, in Roseberry's words, Elsa Schiaparelli "in all of her glory": a collaboration with Dalí. The Duchess of Windsor had just married, and Schiaparelli made a wardrobe for her; the dress was part of it. Roseberry says the lobster was placed strategically between the legs as a homage to "who wore the pants in the relationship." Dalí also wanted real mayonnaise on the dress. Roseberry believes Elsa considered that "a bridge too far," and says that is lucky, because it is why the dress survives. The interviewer adds that mayonnaise stains would not have aged well.
Cocteau's Evening Coat: A Simple Canvas
An evening coat made with Jean Cocteau carries a motif the interviewer calls clearly indicative of his art. They ask whether there is a line from the trompe l'oeil sweater to this piece. Roseberry says "definitely." They find the coat striking because the silhouette is so simple and pure that it works "like a canvas," sending the eye straight to Cocteau's drawings. The taffeta flowers are pleated into rosettes and then hand-painted. The interviewer names the rosettes and the sparkly red lips as favorites, noting that lips recur in Roseberry's work. Roseberry replies that the eyes, the lips, and the rest are "all permission granted from pieces like this."
"Anger Is the Deepest Form of Care"
One recent look was, by Roseberry's estimate, about two months old at the time of filming. That collection began with a quote from a poet, given in the transcript as David White: "Anger is the deepest form of care." Roseberry chooses their words carefully about Elsa Schiaparelli. They don't want to call her an angry person, but they say the fantasy of her work stood in direct contrast to a difficult reality in her life. They like the idea of fashion as a foil to that.
The collection's origin was personal as well. One day Roseberry was "really pissed," probably after something happened in the studio, and started drawing tails. They were short at first and grew in the fittings into "arabesques of venomous, beautiful anger." Roseberry believes these became some of the most memorable looks of that collection. The interviewer connects this to beauty and danger, and to beauty as armor and protection, which Roseberry says recurs throughout fashion. The interviewer remarks that the most creative people are often the most tortured and need an outlet. Both then joke that they are not repeating that life cycle.
Spring 2024: Ripley, AI, and a Motherboard Couture Piece
The final object is a look from the spring 2024 couture collection that the interviewer had hoped would be included; they remember it as an electric runway moment. Roseberry says the collection was inspired by the character Ripley from Aliens and was about the emergence of AI.
The piece is made of motherboard with many cables and cords. Crushed CDs and DVDs have been turned into mirrors and paillettes, and the whole is dusted with Swarovski crystals. Roseberry sees past and future meeting even in the embroidery. An artisan in the atelier molded the piece, which Roseberry describes as "a couture stuffed animal, basically."
What Roseberry values most, though, is the interviewer's own reaction of remembering the look coming down the runway. They say this is the kind of fashion both grew up looking at, being inspired by, and remembering. The goal is always the same: "How can we present something to you that will become part of the way you think about fashion in this era?"
Hi, I'm Trino Rodi, head of editorial content at British Vogue.
And I'm Daniel Roseberry, creative director of Schiaparelli.
And we're here at the V&A for a truly fantastic exhibition.
It's called Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art.
And these are our objects of affection.
So here we are, we're sitting in front of Elsa Schiaparelli's first garment, basically. She made this trompe l'oeil bow knot sweater in 1927, and everything kind of came from this. It speaks so much to her modern perspective on the woman's wardrobe. The legend is that she wore this one to a lunch at the Ritz.
Okay.
Caused a sensation.
Wow. For me, I'd always associated her with trompe l'oeil, but I actually didn't know that it was something quite as simplistic.
I don't know that.
But I think that's probably the impact and why it caused such a stir.
Yeah, the simplest idea, but the first, like the origin.
So in here, we have some of the tailoring. We have the newspaper print, which later became the John Galliano Dior version.
Of the...
This is the original. There's so many things that she did the first of. She was the first person to invent the concept of visual merchandising. She was the first...
Didn't know that.
The first person to do a unisex fragrance.
Wow.
First person to use an exposed zipper. First person to do themed collections. First person to use music in runway shows.
Wow. Ah, this room is fantastic. I feel like this look literally commands your attention.
We call it the gold collection. It was the first return of the runway after lockdown. And it's a direct replica of the Apollo embroidery that she did. It was the first time something from the archives really pulled us in. So, it was a real fusion of past and present, but the motif is from a fountain at Versailles that was done by Lesage.
So, who was the original Kate?
A very loyal client of hers named Lady Mendl. I think it was a Beaton photograph portrait of her. And there was a mirror below her. Even though it's black and white, you still have this like really juicy embroidery leaping out at you. There's something about the immediacy of black velvet, black satin, boom, just the embroidery that feels so Schiap and so predictive of the digital instant gratification age that we live in. So, I love that it's tied back to her, but feels so modern still.
Wow, I'm obsessed with this dress and I've never seen it in person up close.
It's one of my favorite pieces from Schiaparelli and the Artist, which was the other term for the collection Purgatorio. We took anatomical paintings that I was doing for this season, and we enlarged the painting to be life-size.
Wow.
And then we turned every brushstroke into a paillette. Basically, the brushstrokes are done as a puzzle, painted onto plexi, and then embroidered onto a knit crochet base.
I think we talk a lot about couture and what couture means and what modern couture...
Yeah.
...looks and feels like. And for me, this is the absolute epitome of modern couture. It's one of one. You couldn't replicate this if you wanted to. Like, this is literally your hand.
Yes. I feel like couture is sort of the moment for a house to say something about what it stands for in the creative space. And so, Schiaparelli, the legacy is art and fashion. And so that's why in every look, we're trying to reduce, reduce, reduce the meaning so that it is as closely linked with art as possible. And that is what makes it so Schiap.
Okay, so this is the Matador jacket from fall/winter 2021.
For me, it feels like just incredibly playful in the most high-fashion way.
Yes. Yeah, yeah. The Schiap jacket is the thing. And it's typically very silhouetted, often sharp-shouldered, and heavily embroidered.
How did it come together from a technical perspective, 'cause it looks so intricate?
Yeah. It all happens in the fitting. So I draw everything before just to get the shapes down. But the real heartbeat of the collection always happens in 3D. When you look around the room, you see a lot of play happening with the jackets. It gives permission for us to play as well. So this was the first time really in my time here that the Schiap jacket announced itself. I remember this whole conversation with the team. It was like, it's Super Bowl halftime show, and there's a Schiaparelli pop star coming up from the inside of the, from the floor. What is she wearing? And it was like, how embroidered, how turbo with mirrors and things, and then with the lights, everything. There's something so pop about Schiap. And that's what I wanted here, this fusion of pop and archival embroideries and everything just delivered in one garment. I think because the house was closed for so long, for almost a century, that when we're creating something like this in the fittings, I'm always saying, is this museum bound?
Right.
You know, there's two mantras. It's like...
You were very accurate with this one.
Yeah, actually, yes. Accidentally, but that's the question. Can it be on the cover of a magazine, and can it go into the museum?
So, here we are in a really fabulous room full of Schiaparelli hats and accessories. I think honestly, this might be the most famous of Elsa's hats. Am I right?
Yes. The other hats that women were wearing at the time, they were always just about making yourself look more beautiful. And this is not about making yourself look more beautiful. It's a provocation.
I love that about her. She's just so much part of who she was as a designer, as she was as a woman.
Yeah. It's interesting that she has a very unique brand of provocation. It was never humor to the point of farce. And this surrealist idea of displacement, about taking an everyday object and putting it in a new context, making it feel like you're seeing it for the first time.
Yeah, and I think also it's something that I think you've used to define your time at the house, that amazing dress that you designed for Ariana Grande.
Yes. You know, when Ari was performing and then she turns around, the ruby red slippers on the back of her dress, and people screamed. What I'm always looking for, inspired by this, is what's going to make it an unforgettable moment, not just a dress. We got the call from Ariana about 2 weeks before the Academy Awards.
Pretty quick turnaround.
It was very quick, and the producers wanted to do something that was sort of like a love letter to Los Angeles and to movie making. And she's singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." So, that was the inspiration for this.
What's the difference between working on a collection versus something like this as a special commission?
The couture is so personal in a way. It's like an intimate dialogue with self. And when we're making something for a performer or celebrity or whoever, it's really an act of service for them. The goal being that they are allowed to connect with self before this hugely performative part of her career. Our job is to help her tell a story and make her feel amazing while she does it.
Okay, so this is the famous lobster dress.
This is her in all of her glory, collaboration with Dalí. The Duchess of Windsor had just gotten married.
Didn't Schiaparelli make a wardrobe for her, for her post...?
Yes. Yes, and so this was part of that ensemble. And as a homage to who wore the pants in the relationship...
Right.
...the lobster is placed strategically between her legs.
Oh, got it.
And then also Dalí wanted there to be real mayonnaise on the dress.
Ah, okay.
And then Elsa was, I think she was like, "It's a bridge too far. We don't want to do that." So, luckily that didn't happen, so we still have the dress, but...
I can't imagine those mayonnaise stains would have aged well.
No.
So, this evening coat is one that Schiaparelli designed in collaboration with Jean Cocteau. As you can see, the motif is very much indicative of his art.
Yeah.
Do you see a line from the original sweater that we saw, that trompe l'oeil, that sort of playful vibe...
Definitely.
...in this?
What makes it so striking is that the silhouette is so simple, so pure. It's like a canvas, basically. So, your eye just goes to the drawings of Cocteau. And then the taffeta flowers are all pleated into rosette...
Wow.
...patterns and then hand-painted.
The rosettes are probably my favorite part about it, and those sparkly red lips, which I know is a motif that you play a lot with, too.
The eyes, the lips, and then the... yeah, it's all permission granted from pieces like this.
So, this piece is pretty much hot off the couture runway, isn't it?
It's like 2 months old, I think. Yeah, the whole collection started with this quote from a poet called David Whyte. He said, "Anger is the deepest form of care." Elsa Schiaparelli was, I don't want to say an angry person, but I know that the fantasy of her work was directly contrasted by a difficult real reality in life.
Yeah.
And I love that there's this fashion becoming this foil. I was really pissed one day. I think something had happened in the studio, and I grabbed my art supplies and just started drawing these tails, which were, you know, really short at the beginning, and then in the fittings they just became these sort of like arabesques of venomous, beautiful anger. It became, I think, some of the most memorable looks from the last collection.
Nice. I love this idea of like beauty and danger and...
Yes.
...and beauty is armor and beauty's protection.
Yes. You find that example over and over again in fashion.
I know. I know. I mean, I think the most creative people are often the most tortured.
Yes.
They have to find an outlet for that.
Yeah. Well, we're not repeating that...
No.
...life cycle.
No. I was so hoping that this look would make it into the exhibit, and it did. I remember seeing it come down the runway, and it was just such an electric moment.
This is from the spring '24 couture collection, which was called Schiaparelli, and it was all inspired by the character Ripley from Aliens. And it was all about the emergence of AI.
Tell me about the construction of it, 'cause it seems to have jewelry, but also pieces of a motherboard, and obviously they are on the motherboard, which is really cool.
It's all motherboard with lots of cables and cords, and there's crushed CDs and DVDs that have been turned into mirrors and paillettes, and then it's dusted in Swarovski crystals. So, again, even in the embroidery, there's like a past and present, past and future. And it was molded by one of the artisans in the atelier, and it's like a couture stuffed animal, basically.
Oh, it's incredible.
Yeah. But my favorite thing about this is what you just said walking in. I remember when this came down the runway. That's the fashion that I know we both grew up looking at, being inspired by, remembering, and that's always the goal. How can we present something to you that will become part of the way you think about fashion in this era?
So, these were our objects of affection. Thank you so much for watching.
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