Schiaparelli debuts first pitch-perfect ready-to-wear collection in Paris

A month on from the fake animal head fiasco couture show, and American designer Daniel Roseberry was back on Thursday night in Paris with Schiaparelli’s first ever ready-to-wear runway.

Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing, Jared Leto and Elsa Schiaparelli’s granddaughter Marisa Berenson were among the famous faces to take their seats in the golden panelled rooms of the Schiaparelli Maison, which sits next to The Ritz on Place Vendome, to see the 34-piece collection unveiled.

Since he took the helm in 2019, Roseberry’s couture business has successfully riffed on the surrealist designs loved by brand founder Elsa Schiaparelli — think keyhole motifs, golden anatomical references and measuring tape details — to create standout bespoke creations for everyone from Cardi B to Bella Hadid and Jill Biden. His challenge last night was to distil the essence of these otherworldly couture codes into something that can be bought off the peg, without veering into anything token.

“I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a parade of more budget friendly couture gowns,” said Roseberry, who used his 10-year training in daywear at US label Thom Browne to successfully deliver a 360 wardrobe for the Schiaparelli woman. Alongside velvet cocktail dresses (dripping with golden noses and ears, natch) and sculptural peplum tops there was excellent daywear: quilted cardigan jackets, crisp white shirts, black cashmere balaclavas, tailored calfskin suits and long sleeved draped jersey dresses.

Standout were some boiled wool coats in cream and brown stencilled with Roseberry’s own doodles and an indigo denim jeans and jacket coord with golden anatomical buttons.

The brand’s bestselling face bag, which it can’t keep in stock, was there alongside a new style, The Schiap, a baguette bag designed to look like the 1937 house fragrance Shocking. But it was the golden-toed boots and wellies that will be guaranteed Insta catnip when they hit the shelves.

An oversized champagne-coloured silk satin puffer coat, modelled by Irina Shayk, might be too good for the school run, but would certainly be appropriate for lunch in a five-star ski resort, while a sculpted black jacket with velvet trims and golden keyhole buttons was more Ritz-ready than office-destined. But that is very much the point: Schiaparelli’s ready-to-wear customer is a private client who’s probably already shopping the couture, and looking for something more daywear.

“It’s someone who is a bit fatigued by the billion dollar luxury machinery and who wants an alternative to the cliche designer brands. I think Schiaparelli has always been a haven for someone with an alternative mindset,” explained Roseberry, who plans to open Schiaparelli stores in just a few key locations globally. Mass market megabrand this is not.

“I don’t think you’re ever going to see us at the duty free!”