SCHIAPARELLI GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE

Daniel Roseberry perfected the use of the name, Back to the Future. Elsa Schiaparelli and Gabrielle “CoCo” Chanel were the vanguards of women’s fashion, inventing the mold of haute couture in the years leading up to WWII. For their Haute Couture 2025 show, Back to the Future is an introduction for a new generation of fashion lovers to the excitement of the art of clothing and its representation of the times.

A three-panel runway image features models wearing a structured black embellished jacket and skirt, a grey tweed suit with a fur collar and hat, and a glossy black satin suit with a bow-collared shirt.

COURTESY OF SCHIAPARELLI

Daniel Roseberry said of this collection: “This collection reminds you that looking backwards is nothing if we can’t find something meaningful to bring into our future”. 

Haute couture is exclusive, and what is most exclusive about Schiaparelli is the DNA of the fashion house. It keeps the time of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and James Baldwin, and Oscar Wilde alive, especially with the Texan talent of the current creative director. This season takes the archives of the past and inverts them into a futuristic look featuring contradicted silhouettes, keeping the art of fashion alive.

A two-panel portrait layout features models wearing a shimmering strapless black gown with a tulle skirt and a ruffled white cape with black trim, paired with dark tights.

COURTESY OF SCHIAPARELLI

Schiaparelli has not changed with the times but has elevated itself. With the classic pairing of hose and heels, a staple for women that provided them an option other than wearing a girdle, the details that the House is known for and the history of changing fashion for women still here.

A three-panel portrait layout features models wearing a black jacket with trousers and a hat, a leopard-print jacket with matching trousers and hat, and a metallic silver structured coat with matching trousers.

COURTESY OF SCHIAPARELLI

Everyone has black lips with black outfit, red lips with red outfit. Red evening gowns were one of the House’s very first creations in 1939. It is revamped and reimagined, as well as many of her jackets from the 1930s, making an already intricate design even more so, and reflecting images of uniforms of war, accentuated by a matador-esque manner.

A three-panel portrait layout features a model styled in red gowns: on the left a strapless sequined gown with matching gloves, in the center a high-necked sheer dress, and on the right a tailored gown with a textured neckline.

COURTESY OF SCHIAPARELLI

Among many highlights is the rebirth of the legendary and mystic "Apollo of Versailles" cape from 1938 which was creating for Lady Mendl, the tromp l’oeil hidden, and many of her very first designs given back to us in the future. 

With craftsmanship in a class of its own, Elsa Schiaparelli was instrumental in the worldwide recognition of Parisian fashion, confirming Paris’ importance, influence, and contribution to the world of fashion.

A two-panel portrait layout features a model wearing a strapless patterned gown with a tulle cape on the left, and a structured black feathered ensemble with sheer detailing on the right.

COURTESY OF SCHIAPARELLI

The collection was teased with an encrusted heart beating, representing the heart of the fashion house, not a brand, with inspiration from Pablo Picasso, a long-time influence of Elsa Schiaparelli’s work. The heart of Madame Schiaparelli still beats, living through the creations of Daniel Roseberry. 

Back to the Future is collaboration between Elsa Schiaparelli and Daniel Roseberry that presents timeless allure and signature surrealism, asserting Maison Schiaparelli an immortal entity in fashion.

Article by Seana Watson, Associate Fashion Editor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine

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