Couture DNA in Everyday Drag

At its Centre Pompidou show, Schiaparelli SS26 makes a confident claim: that ready-to-wear need not surrender the audacity of couture. Daniel Roseberry seems to have doubled down on the house's surrealist heritage—not as nostalgia, but as a superpower. In his own words, what once felt like a limitation ("that ready-to-wear looked too much like couture") has now become a strength—because clients are buying into fantasy, texture, and surprising craftsmanship in everyday pieces.

The collection opens with tailored skirt suits defined by unexpected padding: instead of shoulder or hip structure hidden under fabric, Roseberry repositions volumes so they live on the outside. Shoulders are clean and sharp, but the padding lives beyond the line—an odd asymmetry that unsettles and delights.

Ribbed knit sweaters come with extroverted ruffles—at collars, cuffs, and peplums—that turn the most basic layer into a statement. Pencil skirts are cut with a twist: waistlines that dip below one hip, bias cutting that yields curves, midriffs peeking through alongside artful cutouts. Dresses "ripped" or slashed (homages to archival Elsa Schiaparelli & Dalí designs) appear in jersey, crystal mesh, mousseline, and metal mesh: delicate fabrics made daring.

Roseberry's color palette for SS26 remains crisp and dramatic: bone whites, deep blacks, and intense crimsons. The intensity of red punctuates the more restrained tones without overpowering them.

Material play is central. Knitwear becomes trompe-l’œil—drawing from sketches, translated into three-tone jacquards—blurring the line between drawing and wearing. Broderie anglaise, crystal mesh, metal mesh; pieces that feel like they protect and reveal at once. There's also a reference to "fur that was actually little paintbrushes" —sculptural, surreal, playful.

Accessories continue Roseberry's tradition of surprise: the Secret handbag (padlock motif) reappears in softened, melting-clock-inspired forms; salt lamp jewelry powered by LED batteries glimmers in key moments. There are dream objects, but they are carried.

Schiaparelli SS26 crafts a narrative of contrast: control vs exposure, minimal structure vs playful distortion, light vs dark. Roseberry shows what discipline looks like when it toys with breaking its own rules. An opening of sharply tailored suits moves toward more revealing forms—cutouts, bias cuts, rips—that feel both erotic and cautious. It's as if Schiaparelli is saying: yes, we can still stun—but also let the wearer breathe.

For Roseberry, ready-to-wear is increasingly about inhabitable fantasy. He spoke of wanting clothes that let their wearer "unashamedly dance in the dark”—moments of liberation in what might otherwise be a constrained silhouette. There's generosity in that: in offering spectacle and wearability.

The craftsmanship and surreal invention— cutouts, draping, bias cutting— feel risky and rewarded; they push the edge without tipping into incoherence. Few collections this season so confidently carry forward their house codes while re-imagining them. Schiaparelli still feels recognizably itself—yet not stuck. Many looks feel like wardrobe pieces—skirt suits, knits, dresses— that might be dramatic, but not impractical for clients who want art in their everyday.

Some of the more surreal elements (rips, extreme curves, exposed midriffs) are very image-worthy, but may be less versatile in less curated contexts. The more revealing looks may polarize. With a palette so focused on contrast, there’s a risk of visual overload or fatigue in styling or photography; balancing the softer vs the sharper moments is essential. The move to integrate more ready-to-wear identity means expectations rise; every piece is scrutinized more closely. Minor fits, finishing errors, or uneven execution could undercut the intent.

Schiaparelli SS26 is one of those collections that reminds you why some labels matter— not just for fashion, but for fantasy, for daring, for saying that clothes can be conversation, art, and identity all at once. Daniel Roseberry's ready-to-wear this season feels less like dilute couture and more like distilled magic: the house's surrealist lineage intact, but more accessible, more living in the everyday.

This collection doesn't just show Schiaparelli's strengths—it leans into them. Between the discipline of tailoring and the audacity of detail, Roseberry strikes a powerful chord: that fashion can be beautiful, provocative, surprising-and still made for someone to live, move, and feel unashamedly alive in it.