Schiaparelli’s haute couture show this season came with a sting — a giant scorpion tail, to be precise.
Creative director Daniel Roseberry channeled nature’s predators for his prickliest collection to date, using trompe-l’oeil effects to evoke alligator tails, horns and giant wings, which sprouted from the backs of jackets and dresses to mimic birds in flight.
Like the most effective hunters, the effect was both menacing and mesmerizing. A sheer black lace jacket swooped into a huge curved scorpion tail, bristling with silver needles, while a translucent crystal-embroidered skirt suit erupted in organza spikes inspired by a blowfish.
Awar Odhiang and Lulu Tenney closed the show in multicolored feathered jackets with two gigantic bird beaks protruding from the chest and back. So were they birds of paradise or birds of prey?
“The tension between the two, and the not knowing, was the point,” Roseberry said backstage. “There is an aggressive, turbocharged aspect to the silhouette.”
The designer cited inspirations as varied as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, the sci-fi classic “Alien,” and English philosopher and poet David Whyte, specifically this quote: “Anger is the deepest form of compassion, for another, for the world, for the self, for a life, for the body, for a family and for all our ideals, possibly about to be hurt.”
Words to mull over as the world descends into chaos. Roseberry chose to channel his feelings into raw creativity.
“Normally, we associate anger with aggression, but this was something different,” he said. “I’ve had people from the atelier and the team tell me they’ve never had more fun and more joy, actually, working on something as aggressive as the scorpion tail.”
It’s just as well, since making each outfit requires the patience of a saint. A tiered ballgown glistening with 65,000 black and kingfisher blue raw silk feathers took more than 8,000 hours to complete, while a bustier dress clinking with hundreds of small shells, each dangling a pearl, clocked in at 4,000 hours.
Not every look was laced with venom. Molded bustier dresses dripping in crystal fringe felt like natural candidates for the Oscars red carpet — but the surreal tulle ballgowns, chopped up or worn back-to-front, felt a little close to old Viktor & Rolf.
Leave it to front row guest Teyana Taylor, fresh off her Golden Globes win in Schiaparelli, to once again steal the show, wearing a sheer black lace dress under a long black coat — though all you could look at was her pearl crown, tiara and necklace, which were inspired by the crown jewels stolen from the Louvre. Talk about a sting in the tale.
