Daniel Roseberry Plays Tour Guide at the V&A Museum’s Schiaparelli Exhibit

[dramatic music]

Hi, I am Chioma Nnadi,

Head of Editorial Content at British Vogue.

And I'm Daniel Roseberry,

Creative Director of Schiaparelli.

[Chioma] And we're here at the V&A

for a truly fantastic exhibition.

[Daniel] It's called Schiaparelli Fashion Becomes Art.

And these are our Objects of Affection.

[dramatic music]

So here we are, we're standing in front

of Elsa Schiaparelli's first garment, basically.

She made this trompe l'oeil bowknot sweater in 1927,

and everything kind of came from this.

It speaks so much to her modern perspective

on the woman's wardrobe.

The legend is that she wore this one

to a lunch at the Ritz.

Okay.

It caused a sensation. Wow.

For me, I'd always associated her with trompe l'oeil,

but I actually didn't know

that it was something quite as simplistic.

Totally.

But I think that's probably the impact

and why it caused such a stir.

Yeah, the simplest idea at the first,

[Chioma] like the origin. Yeah.

[Daniel] So in here, we have some of the tailoring.

We have the newspaper print,

which later became the John Galliano Dior version.

So that's the origin of the John Galliano?

This is the original.

There's so many things that she did the first of.

She was the first person to invent the concept

of visual merchandising.

She was the- I did not know that.

The first person to do a unisex fragrance.

[Chioma] Wow.

First person to use an exposed zipper,

first person to do themed collectsions,

first person to use music in runway shows.

[Chioma] Wow.

Ah, this room is fantastic.

I feel like this look literally commands your attention.

[Daniel] We call it the Gold Collection.

It was the first return of the runway after lockdown,

and it's a direct replica of the Apollo embroidery

that she did.

It was the first time something from the archives

really pulled us in.

So it was the real fusion of past and present.

But the motif is from a fountain at Versailles.

That was done by Lesage.

So who wore the original cape?

A very loyal client of hers named Lady Mendl.

I think it was a Beaton photograph, portrait, of her.

And there was a mirror below her.

Even though it's black and white,

you still have this like really juicy embroidery

leaping out at you.

There's something about the immediacy of black velvet,

black satin, boom, just the embroidery,

that feels so Schiap and so predictive

of the digital instant gratification age that we live in.

So I love that it's tying back to her,

but feels so modern still.

[Chioma] Wow, I'm obsessed with this dress

and I've never seen it in person up close.

It's one of my favorite pieces

from Schiaparelli and the Artists,

which was the other term for the collectsion Purgatorio.

We took anatomical paintings that I was doing

for this season,

and we enlarged the painting to be life size.

Wow.

And then we turned every brush stroke into a payette.

Basically, the brush strokes are done as a puzzle,

painted onto plexi,

and then embroidered onto a knit crochet base.

I think we talk a lot about couture

and what couture means and what modern couture-

Yeah. Looks and feels like.

And for me, this is the absolute epitome

of modern couture.

It's one of one.

You couldn't replicate this if you wanted to.

Yeah. Like this is literally-

[Daniel] Yeah. Your hand.

Yes, I feel like couture is sort of the moment

for a House to say something about what it stands for,

in the creative space.

And so, Schiaparelli, the legacy is art and fashion.

And so that's why in every look,

we're trying to reduce, reduce, reduce the meaning

so that it is as closely linked with art as possible.

And that is what makes it so Schiap.

[bright music]

Okay, so this is the Matador jacket from Fall Winter 2021.

For me, it feels like just incredibly playful

in the most high fashion way.

Yes, yeah, yeah.

The Schiap jacket is the thing,

and it's a typically very silhouetted,

often sharp shouldered and heavily embroidered.

How did it come together from a technical perspective?

'Cause it looks so intricate.

Yeah, it all happens in the fitting.

So like I draw everything before,

just to get the shapes down, but the real heartbeat

of the collectsion always happens in 3D.

When you look around the room,

you see a lot of play happening with the jackets.

It gives permission for us to play as well.

So this was the first time, really in my time here,

that the Schiap jacket announced itself.

I remember this whole conversation with the team.

It was like, it's Super Bowl halftime show,

and there's a Schiaparelli pop star coming up

from the inside of the, from the floor.

What is she wearing? Mm.

And it was like how embroidered,

how turbo with mirrors and things.

And then with the lights and everything.

There's something so pop about Schiap.

[Chioma] Yeah.

[Daniel] And that's what I wanted here.

This fusion of pop and archival embroideries

and everything just delivered in one garment.

I think because the House was closed for so long.

[Chioma] Yeah. For almost a century,

that when we're creating something like this

in the fittings,

I'm always saying, Is this museum bound?

Right.

You know, there's two mantras, it's like-

Well, you were very accurate with this one.

Yeah, actually yes.

[Chioma laughs]

Accidentally, but that's the question.

Can it be on the cover of a magazine?

Yeah.

And can it go into the museum?

Yeah.

So here we are in a really fabulous room full

of Schiaparelli hats and accessories.

I think, honestly, this might be the most famous

of Elsa's hats.

Am I right?

Yes, the other hats that women were wearing at the time,

they were always just about

making yourself look more beautiful.

And this is not about making yourself look more beautiful.

It's a provocation.

I love that about her.

It's just so much part of who she was a designer,

as who she was as as a woman.

Yeah, it's interesting

that she has a very unique brand of provocation.

It was never humor to the point of farce.

[Chioma] Mm.

And this surrealist idea of displacement,

about taking an everyday object

and putting it in a new context,

making it feel like you're seeing it for the first time.

Yeah, and I think also it's something

that I think you've used to define your time at the House,

that amazing dress that you designed for Ariana Grande.

Yes, you know, when Ariana was performing

and then she turns around,

the ruby red slippers on the back of her dress

and people screamed.

What I'm always looking for, inspired by this,

is what's gonna make it an unforgettable moment,

not just a dress.

[light music]

We got the call from Ariana

about two weeks before the Academy Awards.

That's a pretty quick turn over.

It was very quick.

And the producers wanted to do something

that was sort of like a love letter to Los Angeles

and to movie making.

And she's sang, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

So that was the inspiration for this.

What's the difference between working on a collectsion

versus something like this, as a special commission?

The couture is so personal in a way.

It's like an intimate dialogue with self.

And when we're making something for a performer

or a celebrity or whoever,

it's really an act of service for them.

The goal being that they are allowed to connect with self

before this hugely performative part of her career.

Our job is to help her tell a story

and make her feel amazing while she does it.

[bright music]

[Chioma] Okay, so this is the famous lobster dress.

This is her in all of her glory, collaboration with Dali.

the Duchess of Windsor had just gotten married.

Didn't Schiaparelli make a wardrobe for her, for her post?

Yes, yes.

And so this was part of that ensemble

and as a homage to who wore the pants in the relationship.

[Chioma] Right.

The lobster is placed strategically between her legs.

[Chioma] Oh, got it.

And then also,

Dali wanted there to be real mayonnaise on the dress.

Ah, okay.

And there's, Elsa was, I think she was like,

It's a bridge too far, we don't wanna do that.

So luckily that didn't happen.

So we still have the dress, but-

I can't imagine those mayonnaise stains

would've aged well.

No.

[bright music]

[Chioma] So this evening coat is one

that Schiaparelli designed

in collaboration with Jean Cocteau.

As you can see,

that motif is very much indicative of his art.

Yeah.

Do see a line from that original sweater that we saw,

that trompe l'oeil, that sort of playful vibe-

Definitely. In this?

[Daniel] What makes it so striking is

that the silhouette is so simple, so pure.

Mm.

It's like a canvas, basically.

So your eye just goes to the drawings of Cocteau,

and then the taffeta flowers are all pleated into rosette-

Wow.

[Daniel] Patterns, and then hand painted.

I think the rosettes are probably my favorite part

about it, and those sparkly red lips,

which I know is a motif that you play a lot with too.

The eyes, the lips, the, yeah.

It's all permission granted from pieces like this.

[light music]

[Chioma] So this piece is pretty much hot

off the couture runway, isn't it?

It's like two months old, I think.

[Chioma] Wow.

Yeah, the whole collectsion started with this quote

from a poet called David White.

He said, Anger is the deepest form of care.

Elsa Schiaparelli was, I don't wanna say an angry person,

but I know that the fantasy of her work

was directly contrasted by a difficult reality in life.

[Chioma] Yeah, yeah.

And I love that there's this fashion becoming this foil.

I was really pissed one day. [Chioma laughs]

I think something had happened in the studio,

and I grabbed my art supplies

and just started drawing these tails, which were,

you know, really short at the beginning.

And then in the fittings, they just became these sort

of like arabesques of venomous beautiful anger.

It became, I think, some of the most memorable looks

from the last collectsion.

Nice, I love this idea of like beauty and danger and-

[Daniel] Yes, yeah.

[Chioma] And beauty is armor and beauty is protection.

Yes, you find that example over and over again in fashion.

I know, I know.

I mean, I think the most creative people

are often the most tortured, so-

Yes.

They have to find an outlet for that.

Yeah, well, we're not repeating that-

No.

Lifecycle. [Chioma chuckles]

No.

I was so hoping that this look would make it

into the exhibit, and it did.

I remember seeing it come down the runway

and it was just such a electric moment.

This is from the Spring '24 couture collectsion,

which was called Schiaparalien.

And it was all inspired

by the character Ripley from Aliens

And it was all about the emergence of AI.

Tell me about the construction of it

'cause it seems to have jewelry,

but also pieces of a motherboard and obviously,

play on the motherboard, which is really cool.

Yes, exactly.

It's all motherboard with lots of cables and cords,

and there's crushed CDs and DVDs

that have been turned into mirrors and payettes,

and then it's dusted in Swarovski crystals.

So again, even in the embroidery,

there's like a past and present, past and future.

And it was molded by one of the artisans in the atelier.

And it's like a couture stuffed animal, basically.

Oh, that's incredible.

Yeah, but my favorite thing about this is

what you just said, walking in.

I remember when this came down the runway.

[Chioma] Mm.

That's the fashion that I know we both grew up,

looking at being inspired by remembering.

And that's always the goal.

How can we present something to you that will become part

of the way you think about fashion in this era?

[dramatic music]

So these were our Objects of Affection.

Thank you so much for watching.

[dramatic music]