For those of us attending fashion month virtually, things have been a bit less, well, exciting. Gone is the thrill of seeing the new garments, shoes and bags move in real time on the runway, and the up-close, tactile moments of craftsmanship that can only really be done at showroom appointments and re-sees.
But one French fashion house has managed to create buzz with just a look book — and it’s doing so by paying homage to its own history.
Schiaparelli showed its spring ’21 line virtually with a collection of images that featured just two models traipsing around the brand’s showroom and throughout Paris, wearing a series of ambitiously cut garments in mostly neutral colors and a series of flat toe-ring sandals with clever, abstract footprints embedded in the insole.
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But the real star of the collection was the jewelry. Gilded glasses dotted with electric blue eyes were worn with oversized gold button earrings and lock-and-key brooches. Molded plates covering the lower half of the face made for the chicest version of a mask (though maybe not the most practical). Golden nipple coverings were met with chain after oversized chain of heavy pendants.
Any Schiaparelli fan knows that the brand’s legacy lies in its avant-garde, surrealist approach, which its founder Elsa Schiaparelli wore as her own best model. Some of the best examples can be found in her jewelry, which was done both in costume materials as well as precious gems.
The Italian designer partnered with artists like Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau on a series of jewels and accessories, some of which were resurrected earlier this year for Schiaparelli’s couture collection.
Artistic director Daniel Roseberry has been tapping into this bit of the brand’s history since he came on board last year, pulling out archival designs and reimagining them with collections that balance both past and present.
For spring ’21, Roseberry is thoroughly expanding on the founding designer’s jewelry history and taking it into a new decade. Jewelry-as-armor-as surrealist-art sounds right for right now.
