Elsa Schiaparelli brand to be revived

[Marc10]

Christian Lacroix Talks Schiaparelli

Finally, something’s happening at Schiaparelli. After the house’s current owner, Diego Della Valle, announced his plans to reopen the storied maison last year, there had been no news about a creative director, or even a launch date. Until yesterday, when it was revealed that the Schiap revival is set for July, with a fifteen-piece capsule collection of Couture by Christian Lacroix. The 61-year-old, Paris-based couturier’s homage to Schiaparelli—which will go on display in her original salon at 21 Place Vendôme—will be the first in an annual series of collaborations in which artists will interpret the iconic designer’s wares. The house’s permanent creative director, however, has yet to be named. Here, Lacroix, who has largely been working on costume projects for operas and ballets around the globe since his departure from the couture catwalk in 2009, discusses the Schiaparelli revival and his forthcoming collection.
—Katharine K. Zarrella

Schiaparelli is a legend, yet also mysterious; you referred to her as a sphinx. Are you at all intimidated by the undertaking?
This will perhaps sound pretentious, but this seems natural to me, almost obvious—let’s say logical. I do feel a link with her through many signs since I was a child. I’ll face her glance on a portrait and try to guess what she thinks…and I’ll tell you yes, she’s goddamned intimidating!

How did Mr. Della Valle approach you for this project?
We have known each other for more than thirty years. [We met] when I was working for Guy Paulin and Byblos in Italy. Later, he made my first shoes for the first Lacroix ready-to-wear show. And we have friends and collaborators in common.

Why were you drawn to this collaboration?
I’ve adored Schiap since my childhood. This kind of project that falls in between the history of costume and fashion was impossible for me to refuse [particularly because] I planned to be a fashion museum curator and became a stage designer after twenty-five years of couture.

Do you see any similarities between your and Schiaparelli’s aesthetics?
Of course I was very inspired by her work, mixing past and modernity, high and low, elegance and eccentricity. We are both Mediterranean characters inspired by Paris’ special flavor and style.

While many are excited to see new life breathed into Elsa Schiaparelli’s house, some are wary of the revival and feel her legacy should be left untouched. What is your response to this and what are your feelings on the revival?
When you enter 21 Place Vendôme, the place which never stopped being “her” home since the thirties, you feel something alive, far from nostalgia. Everything screams, “I’m still here, alive.” I think this is good timing and momentum [as long as] we don’t copy her but try to extract the quintessence of her style. Her heritage is too often reduced and simplified to only the crazy, surrealistic, and caricatural side of her clothes. [People] ignore how close to the practical, modern, pure aspect of a wardrobe she was, especially during the war. We have to epitomize this image of her.

How do you plan to embrace the Schiaparelli spirit without making the designs look costumey? How will you modernize Schiaparelli’s vision?
By listening to her own voice. This is not a musical about her life, with Beaton-esque costumes, but an exercise of how her French-American (much more than Italian) style—clever clothes with a twist of spirit—is close to nowadays’ needs and approach.

What about this project most excites you?
I just signed and have not begun designing, but let’s say that I’m excited to not provide what everybody is waiting for—a caricature—but a reflection about past and future connected in the present.

What is your favorite Schiaparelli design?
Probably something plain and black with a precious detail.

How does it feel to return to designing couture?
Natural.

Do you have any plans to continue this partnership in the future?
No, that’s clear. Next year’s homage might be a ballet, a novel, or a movie, and the house is about to name a creative director. I’d have too many stage, design, or curating projects to be free for this. At the moment, I’m still working on many curating and scenography projects, three operas, and three hotels. I’m in fittings for Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, and sketching for Wagner’s Lohengrin in Austria. Right now, I’m in Arles for a wide scenography in Montmajour Abbey, with pieces of glass from Bob Wilson, Ettore Sottsass, Jana Sterbak, et cetera, along with contemporary installations, paintings, and photos. Then I’m doing a Balanchine ballet revival at Paris Garnier Opera, and projects for Comédie Française and Opera Comique, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s [opera] Ezio in Francfort, Traviata in Tokyo, Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny in Berlin, and so on.

style

 

[Pricciao]

sigh, it's really an one-off show. but at least we can finally see his fashion again.

 

[Scott]

I'm shocked that some people are saying that Lacroix isn't a good fit. He's one of the greatest designers in the world. He's more similar to Schiap than people give him credit for. They both brought maximilism when there wasn't enough. They both had a sense of humour. This is the best news in fashion in a long time. Years, actually. I've missed Lacroix so so so much. I'm so happy he's got a second chance. This could hopefully mean good things in the long run. I've been disgusted with the way that they've turned the Lacroix brand into stationary and crappy menswear. I want my carnations back.

don't get me wrong i like lacroix and what he did was great but i just don't correlate the two together. with lacroix there was much more pageantry and theatrics....long before galliano......schiap was much more conceptual and a lot more streamlined than you think she was. her work was more predicated on structure and cutting which allowed for her more abstract sensibility to shine through in her detail work.

 

[lepetitcouturier]

don't get me wrong i like lacroix and what he did was great but i just don't correlate the two together. with lacroix there was much more pageantry and theatrics....long before galliano......schiap was much more conceptual and a lot more streamlined than you think she was. her work was more predicated on structure and cutting which allowed for her more abstract sensibility to shine through in her detail work.

I know that she wasn't this maximilist, excess-is-more, type of person. But what she did was bring a sense of "more" to a time that was being dominated by Chanel's androgynous lines, Madame Gres' grecian dresses, and Vionet's bias cut. She dug into the surrealism, she did everything she's known for. And what she did back then was similar to what Lacroix did in the eighties. Everyone was in Armani. He let women get loose. I think he could be a great fit because he also has an innate sense of couture. But either way. Let's just rejoice that finally have someonee who will give us fantastical dreams in a time of fashion where nobody will shut up about Raf Simons' hideous minimalism.

 

[lepetitcouturier]

Can someone remind me why mr lacroix and his namesake label went bust in the first place ??

His namesake was focused on Couture from the beginning. When they introduced his RTW it was amazing but it didn't sell at all because his main focus was on couture. And really other than Couture and RTW the only licensing I think he had was a few fragrances (I got a bottle of Tumulte, one of his colognes, a couple of years ago. I can't really remember the smell but the bottle was exquisite). So since he left they reduced the company to a licencing operation to pay off the company's debts.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

His namesake was focused on Couture from the beginning. When they introduced his RTW it was amazing but it didn't sell at all because his main focus was on couture. And really other than Couture and RTW the only licensing I think he had was a few fragrances (I got a bottle of Tumulte, one of his colognes, a couple of years ago. I can't really remember the smell but the bottle was exquisite). So since he left they reduced the company to a licencing operation to pay off the company's debts.

His RTW didn't sell because no one wanted to wear it.

 

[bearbrick]

His RTW didn't sell because no one wanted to wear it.

YUP , I thought so ...!!!
A self indulgent goon bag of the highest degree he is .
Schiaparelli is wit and chic , not indulgence and frivolity.
Galliano would have been perfect.

 

[Crying Diamonds]

YUP , I thought so ...!!!
A self indulgent goon bag of the highest degree he is .
Schiaparelli is wit and chic , not indulgence and frivolity.
Galliano would have been perfect.

Did you really just call Christian Lacroix a self-indulgent goon bag?
And did you really just imply that Galliano isn't indulgent and frivolous?

I find this dismissal of the genius of Lacroix and your ignorance extremely insulting.

 

[bearbrick]

Did you really just call Christian Lacroix a self-indulgent goon bag?
And did you really just imply that Galliano isn't indulgent and frivolous?

I find this dismissal of the genius of Lacroix and your ignorance extremely insulting.

Galliano is wit, glamourous and occasionally frivolous
Don't get so dramatic , it's only fashion .

 

[Tequila Moon]

give me a break!
Galliano isn’t that special just overrated!

 

[lepetitcouturier]

Galliano is overrated? Lacroix is a "self-indulgent goon bag?" Have you people gone insane? Lacroix isn't "frivolous." Lacroix is a genius. And I have to disagree with Mutterlein about his ready to wear. It's known that his brand was known for the couture. Nobody focused on his RTW. I thought his ready to wear was absolutely fabulous.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Nobody focused on his RTW.

Sorry, LVMH backed Lacroix to make money, you're telling me they expected to do that with couture sales? Doubt it. It's well known that Lacroix was a difficult designer to work with whose ego sent ceo's and financial managers in and out through a revolving door.

And you're absolutely right, NOBODY focused on his RTW.

I'm not trying to bash Lacroix, he's a brilliant man and an amazing designer, he was just never good at making things people actually wanted to buy.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Did you really just call Christian Lacroix a self-indulgent goon bag?
And did you really just imply that Galliano isn't indulgent and frivolous?

I find this dismissal of the genius of Lacroix and your ignorance extremely insulting.

They're both self-indulgent. But at least Lacroix never let it get the better of him in public.

Anyways, is Lacroix appropriate for Schiaprelli? Doesn't matter, it's not really on the table.

Is Lacroix's return to couture for a one off collection to relaunch the Schiaparelli brand going to be fun and exciting? Absolutely.

 

[Scott]

bearbrick,are you really suggesting that the same man infamous for doing homeless collections complete with dead mice attached to a hem and sending dirty pirates down a catwalk in their skivvies wasn't self-indulgement? he was the very definition of self-indulgent.

lacroix may have had a particular style of design but he never strayed away from the focus on the clothes.

 

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

it clearly states he will reinterpret some of her pieces. They will not be an exact replica and it doesn't say he is creative director. I think they are using him as a very notable test-subject to see if her brand is profitable still. People in this thread are so up tight

 

[Flashbang]

This July, maison Schiaparelli draws back the curtain once again as Christian Lacroix returns to couture, creating a one-off collection of fifteen pieces for the artistic fashion house – which might have the best view in Paris, overlooking the Place Vendôme. Ahead of the firebrand union, igniting the haute schedule we spoke to Lacroix, who, like Schiaparelli herself has a thing for shocking pink.

Dazed Digital: Lacroix and Schiaparelli are both celebrated as iconic couturiers. But what about Lacroix for Schiaparelli, can you tell us about how you begin to approach that? Is it intimidating – or instinctive?
Christian Lacroix: I don’t want to sound pretentious, but this seems natural to me, almost obvious. I do feel a link with her through many signs since I was a child. In my approach, I will for sure not do a caricature of her work, but will create a reflection about how the past and the future are connected in the present.

DD: Is it nourishing to be creating couture again?
Christian Lacroix: It’s all very natural. This kind of project that links history of costume and fashion really appeals to me. When I was young, I had planned on being a fashion museum curator… I became a stage designer after 25 years of couture!

DD: What from the Schiaparelli archive do you find most inspiring?
Christian Lacroix: Her modernity with a twist. I have adored Schiap since my childhood! I have always been very inspired by her work, mixing past and modernity, high and low, elegance and eccentricity. Schiap made clever clothes with a twist of spirit. Her heritage is much too often reduced and simplified with the surrealistic and caricatural side of her clothes. But she made practical and modern clothes that have inspired many couturiers.

DD: How does Schiaparelli contextualise itself in the digital age?
Christian Lacroix: In an era when everything is hyper-diffused and shared, so short-lived, we’ll need more and more “one of a kind” objects, contemporary concepts or projects deeply rooted in a timeless strong story, with a unique touch – and Schiap was a very special one – based on innovation, surrealism, inspiration; so different from the other couture houses of her time. The project is not to copy vintage clothes or being stuck in her past for the sake of being part of red carpet wars but keeping her spirit, which was very future minded and not nostalgic at all. Totally connected with the most whimsical, baroque or fancy style and allure of our time using her style in a contemporary way, which does not mean worldwide diffused or mainstream as too many supposedly luxury labels do but with the same individuality and sense of rarity. Her atypical and unusual touch as paradoxically as she and her work were.

dazeddigital.com

 

[softgrey]

galliano would be good for the next season...
if they are rotating designers, then i vote for galliano next!...
and forever!!!

... ... ...

 

[disco54]

Schiaparelli was more modern in her designs than Dior, even though her looks preceded Dior 10 years earlier. The sharp shoulders, linear lines, are just so much more practical than enormous circle skirts of Dior for today's woman. Yes Galliano , would be a great fit, Joan Crawford , Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow have always been his inspiration in some form.

 

[eugenius]

80's Lacroix..looks Schiap-ish enough for me. (src: nytimes)