Daniel Roseberry Looks Back to Move Forward
Schiaparelli’s Spring/Summer 2025 couture show debuted in Paris this morning taking its inspiration from a figure from Greek mythology. The collection, titled “Icarus,” is the story of a tragic figure who ended up flying too close to the sun. Often a euphemism for someone who takes too much risk, it didn’t apply to Daniel Roseberry, Schiaparelli’s creative director who proved today that risk often brings big reward.
Roseberry zeroed in on the concept of modernity. “I realized what I wanted to do: Create something that feels new because it’s old,” he wrote in his show notes. “I’m so tired of everyone constantly equating modernity with simplicity: Can’t the new also be worked, be baroque, be extravagant? Has our fixation on what looks or feels modern become a limitation? Has it cost us our imagination?”
With those questions in mind, Roseberry unveiled a couture collection that centered his limitless imagination. In Roseberry’s world, hips appear exaggerated and bulbous busts are extreme and peaked.
Working within his usual palette of neutrals and shimmering metallics, he presented viewers with pieces like a minidress constructed from strands of pearls and a pleated gold column gown that appeared endlessly in motion. The designer played with form, technique, and color, crafting something that felt fantastical and elegant.
Throughout the process of making this collection, Roseberry says he embarked on a bit of “time travel,” looking to the techniques of legendary couturiers like Madame Grès, Charles Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, and Azzedine Alaïa. You can see these nods to the past with details shown today such as the extreme molded waists or the intricacy of the pleating on the gowns, while also embracing silhouettes and fabrics that defined Schiaparelli in the mid-20th century.
Since joining Schiaparelli in 2019, Roseberry has consistently pushed himself to greater heights, defining what the codes of the house mean for a modern woman. Here, the creative director’s title for the show—“Icarus”—comes into clearer focus.
“You make Haute Couture for love, of course. You also, however, do it for duty,” Roseberry says. “I never forget that I get to helm what is perhaps the last great Maison to have been resurrected. It’s my joy, but also my responsibility, to keep making the work better. Haute Couture aspires to reach great heights; it promises escape from our complicated reality. It also reminds us that perfection comes at a price. How high can we couturiers go? As high as the sun—and the Gods—allow us.”
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