Schiaparelli Ditches the Taxidermy for an 'Unmistakably Human' Couture Collection

Schiaparelli Fall 2023 Haute Couture. Photo: Courtesy of Schiaparelli

At first glance, the bright, unrestrained looks in the Fall 2023 Schiaparelli Haute Couture collection appear slightly out of character for the house. Creative Director Daniel Roseberry tends use minimal color while emphasizing the codes of the house such as clever accessories, eye motifs and surrealism. The new collection continues to embrace that spirit, but with a new approach.

“I wanted to make an impossible wardrobe — impossible not because it’s not wearable, but because it’s so extraordinary,” Roseberry said in show notes. It became “a Surrealist’s interpretation of a woman’s essential closet.”

The collection champions mixing separates to explore a newfound sense of disobedience. Rather than garments that appear forcefully coordinated, Roseberry wanted to create outfits that felt “more organic, more sensual, more impromptu.” A crocheted and oversized snood, embroidered with pearls, slouches above a contrasting black, bias-cut skirt. Corsets cinch the waist alongside trapeze pants that force no silhouette. Pops of electric blue add surprise to otherwise monochromatic looks. Sticking with Schiaparelli’s tradition of surrealism, there is also trompe-l’œil throughout, from imagery on a coat to cutouts on a garment.

Roseberry explained that most of the show’s looks “were put together in the days leading up to this show, as opposed to head-to-toe formulas that have been labored over for months,” adding, “This approach felt like a revelation.”

Each piece in the collection remains imbued with artistic references (Lucian Freud, Yves Klein, Matisse and Dali among them, per the show notes) and witty design concepts, while overall feeling a bit more down-to-earth than previous outings. Schiaparelli’s last couture show, for instance, was the one of the buzziest of the spring season, with faux taxidermy, Doja wearing 30,000 crystals in an arresting all-red look and Kylie Jenner sitting front row with a lion head. For Fall 2023, the house continues to boast its excellence in craftsmanship while embracing the dialogue between fashion and time, something Roseberry meditates on often.

“We live and create fashion in a time when creativity, internet-breaks, and celebrity gags come at us weekly, daily and now, by the hour. Some of these aren’t even created by human hands or minds. Most all of them are forgotten by tomorrow,” Roseberry said. “It’s why I wanted this collection to be aggressively, unmistakably human — and to be rooted in artistic references that feel timeless. To dress, decorate, but most importantly, to create, is as primitive as any instinct we have,”

Scroll below to see every look from Schiaparelli Haute Couture Fall 2023.