Of all the internet-breaking, meme-baiting, conversation-starting gowns the designer Daniel Roseberry has made in his five years at the house of Schiaparelli, it is possible that the most...
well, shocking, was the strapless black sheath Kylie Jenner wore to its couture show in January 2023. You know (and you probably do know because it became pretty much inescapable), the one that had the life-size faux lion’s head attached to the left shoulder like a trophy, and had repercussions far beyond the gilded world of the fashion season. The animal rights world claimed it glorified hunting.
Statements were issued. The dress became so controversial that it has not seen the light of day since. But it also made clear that no designer working today understands how to navigate the attention economy quite like Roseberry.
Since 2019, when he arrived at the maison founded by Elsa Schiaparelli in 1927 and bought by Diego Della Valle, the owner of Tod’s, in 2006, he has transformed the formerly irrelevant name into a brand no red carpet can be without – all without any advertising, a single stand-alone retail store or even a widely recognised logo. Kim Kardashian wore a green Hulk-meets-haute Schiaparelli bustier dress for Christmas 2020 and became an internet sensation. Lady Gaga wore a giant red and blue Schiaparelli gown with an enormous gold dove on the top when she sang at US president Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Beyonce wore a black leather Schiaparelli mini with integral.
