Daniel Roseberry’s spring 2025 ready to wear collection ‘Future Vintage’ is an ode to Elsa Schiaparelli’s heritage

Timeless elegance and contemporary boldness: Daniel Roseberry's vision for Schiaparelli's 'Future Vintage' collection

All images courtesy of Schiaparelli: https://www.schiaparelli.com/en/collections/ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2025-1/

Daniel Roseberry’s objective for Schiaparelli’s spring 2025 ready to wear collection was pretty obviously the will of creating new classics: “At the beginning of this Schiaparelli SS25 RTW collection, we decided we were going to make clothes not just for our clients, but for their daughters and granddaughters.”, read the show notes. And with this goal in mind, Roseberry succeeded in presenting a modern anthology of the Schiaparelli signature, delivering a collection full of references to the history of the Maison, which has always been famously interlinked with the world of art. Embracing in her designs the characteristics of surrealism, and collaborating with prominent artists such as Dalì and Picasso, Elsa Schiaparelli, the founder of the brand, became iconic. From proposing revisited signatures of the maison, such as the golden keyhole, exposed ziplines, willingly exaggerated shapes and call backs to the 1930s fashion, this collection is as wearable as eccentric, in perfect harmony with the signature of the house. This collection blended “pour le sport, pour le ville, pour le soir” looks, to cite Elsa Schiaparelli herself. Bright colours, silhouettes and animal prints captured the attention and conquered the catwalk.

Roseberry played with the curves of the female body, employing playful, airy textures such as ecru and combining them with corsets and bustiers that enhance the curves, highlighting the waist – vaguely reminding the iconic Shocking! Fragrance’s bottle, launched by the brand in 1937. The contrast between white, draped ecru, dancing around the legs as the model walks, and the denim bustier with visible stitchings give an idea of the kind of mixing of classic and modern that Roseberry had in mind with this collection. Strongholds of the 1930s fashion, such as the distribution of the volume around the shoulders with a sudden collapse tightening towards the waist, made their appearance, in a new maximalist guise: zebra print matching set adorned with gold brass accessories, and the look being finished with unexpected moulded slippers in silver. Trompe l’œil (another signature of the Maison)  of ribbons and embellishments, such as the striped sailor dress, accompanied by a yellow leather bag: a look that is not hard to imagine wearing during a sunny afternoon on the poolside. 

Some looks seem more evocative of the history of the brand than others, such as the sporty oversized red teddy, which presents the signature keyhole as the zip and an embroidery of Place Vendôme in the back, referencing the historical Schiaparelli boutique location. 

In this collection, Roseberry was able to create flowy, lively looks, almost like a celebration to the ‘Italian morbidezza’ with which Elsa Schiaparelli’s work was described in the 1930s, while keeping a strict geometry, which finds expression in pointy edges, lines that follow the body and yet they are somehow stiff, triangular shapes, large use of stripes and checkered patterns, and an asymmetrical symmetry, which can also be observed in the placing of the accessories: mismatched earrings and only one arm being filled with overly chunky gold bracelets. The attention to the accessories is crucial in Schiaparelli’s shows: typically golden and difficult to not look at, this collection did not betray our expectations. Oversized earrings and necklaces presenting symbols of the Maison, keyholes, padlocks and keys; curved effect stocky chokers and details that enriched the bags, such as the face-shaped anatomy charms on the handles. In between the proposition of the classic bags such as the Secret bag, with its unmistakable padlock clasp, figured the newest entry in Maison Schiaparelli: the Hobo, a shoulder bag which meets all the key trends of this season as for colours and materials: suede, jacquard and heavy cotton. Between transparent mesh jerseys and pearlescent fabrics, some tulle makes its appearance, fully hand embroidered with floral motifs - another big trend of the season which also gives a nod to what is vintage in the popular imagination.  

In a society in which everybody is either digging into their grandparent’s wardrobes in haunt for vintage endless classics or turning every outfit in a futuristic portrait, Daniel Roseberry proved that it is possible to combine modernity and tradition, staying true to the heritage that the fashion history has left us. If Roseberry’s goal of creating new classics destined to become ‘Future Vintage’ - as the name of the collection reminds us -  has been achieved we cannot tell, only time will be able to test it. Surely, this collection was proof that Schiaparelli’s legacy was created to stay, and that from this legacy there is still a lot to learn, create, play with.