Photo Credits: Acielle/ Style Du Monde

In the dizzying world of haute couture, few designers manage to balance intellectual daring with technical
brilliance quite like Daniel Roseberry. As creative director of Schiaparelli, his latest Spring Couture
collection, titled Icarus, propelled us into an orbit of thought-provoking innovation. By taking inspiration from the Greek myth of Icarus—a tragic tale of ambition gone awry—Roseberry challenged not only the expectations of what couture can be but also our perception of fashion itself.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Schiaparelli

Roseberry’s commentary before the show was telling: “I wanted to challenge this idea that to be modern,
it must be simple.” A sentiment that rings louder than ever in a season where complexity and exuberance
seem to be making a return to the runway. In Icarus, he defied the conventional simplicity of contemporary design and instead invoked an interplay of the ancient and the modern, resulting in garments that feel timeless yet undeniably new.

At the heart of this collection were the corsets—a quintessentially historical garment that has been dramatically reimagined by Roseberry. Corseting has seen a revival in recent seasons, often controversial due to its complex associations with gender politics and beauty standards. In Icarus, Roseberry elevated the corset to an art form. The torso became the focal point of the collection, a space of exploration and innovation.

In one breathtaking look, a white bodice worn with black pants used angled hip structuresthat seemed to defy anatomy itself.

The careful construction—a beautiful blend of engineering and couture techniques—created a silhouette that was more sculpture than clothing, an otherworldly piece where form and function met in perfect harmony

Photo Credits: Acielle/ Style Du Monde

The most astonishing moments of the collection came in its interplay of futuristic geometry and historical
reverence. A 3D peplum on a strapless bustier was a sculptural marvel, evoking the smooth, flowing
curves of a car body or an airplane fuselage.

The silhouette was powerful, almost mechanical, yet it was softened by the fluidity of the fabric, making it feel both sculptural and ethereal. The luxurious draping of tulle over rigid corsetry in a dress worn by Maggie Mauger was a masterclass in balancing tension and ease, a high-fashion meditation on control and freedom. One of the collection’s most striking features was its exceptional engineering.

Schiaparelli under Roseberry has now perfected the ability to make garments that appear as if they’ve been crafted by machines, yet retain the craftsmanship and artistry of the highest level of handwork.

This is most apparent in the use of neoprene and Ultrasuede—fabrics not traditionally associated with couture, but one that Roseberry employed to give the garments a modern edge.

The tailored cutaway jacket in cream, with its distinctive pleating reminiscent of Schiaparelli’s surrealist era, seemed to float across the body as though it were an aerodynamic structure. The subtle reference to aeronautics engineering was impossible to ignore—an unexpected, but undeniable, nod to the future.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Schiaparelli

But it wasn’t all about the modern and the avant-garde. Roseberry also looked back in time, pulling
inspiration from the early 20th-century ribbons of Lyons couture.

This touch of antiquity was felt mostpoignantly in the closing look: a corseted dress made from a rich, brown moiré silk ribbon. The piece had an otherworldly grace as it swayed with the model’s movements, its texture catching the light with a quiet yet undeniable elegance.

The slender silhouette of a ribbon-tiered dress had echoes of a 1920s flapper style—flirty, light, and daring—but it was clearly something new, a reinvention rather than a homage.

Photos Credits: Courtesy of Schiaparelli

Roseberry’s success in this collection lay not in a literal translation of antiquity but in his ability to
transform it into something that had never been seen before.

Haute couture, at its most transcendent, is the act of reimagining the past—creating garments that honor history but catapult them into the future. Roseberry’s Icarus achieved that with breathtaking precision, taking us on a soaring journey from the past into the limitless future. There were moments in this collection where the impossible seemed tangible—where engineering,artistry, and fashion intertwined in ways that left the audience gasping. It’s a rare achievement for a designer to push the boundaries of fashion while maintaining the soul of couture.

But Daniel Roseberry did just that. The final collection from Schiaparelli for this season wasn’t just a tribute to ambition—it was a testament to the courage and brilliance of a designer who, like Icarus, dared to fly higher.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Schiaparelli