Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring Summer 2025 “ICARUS”, or Flying High, Landing Hard. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Schiaparelli.

Daniel Roseberry’s Spring Summer 2025 Haute Couture collection for Schiaparelli, dramatically titled “Icarus,” aimed for the heavens but seemed to take a nosedive straight into the metaphorical dirt. Inspired by the infamous myth of ambition and downfall, it’s hard not to wonder if Roseberry was drawing parallels to his own creative trajectory. With sculptural corsets, silk and satin galore, and embroidered fabric resurrected from the archives, the collection fluttered beautifully in its ascent – only to crash into an identity crisis somewhere over the Louvre’s gift shop.

But let’s address the elephant in the room: is this couture for couture’s sake, a museum’s sake, or Daniel Roseberry’s ego’s sake? Let’s be honest, it’s leaning toward the latter.

A Museum Piece in the Making (or Just a Piece?)

“Icarus” is a name that practically begs for scrutiny. Much like its mythological namesake, the collection soared on wings of intricate craftsmanship – the corsets were marvels of engineering, molded to perfection. Silks and satins cascaded like a Grecian tragedy, and archival embroidery whispered sweet nothings about Schiaparelli’s storied past. And then, just as it seemed poised to touch the sun, the collection did a dramatic faceplant into self-indulgence.

The addition of a Louvre curator in the audience wasn’t just a cherry on top; it was the entire sundae. The message was clear: this wasn’t just a collection; this was an audition for eternal relevance. Forget runways; Roseberry is designing for vitrines. One could almost picture him backstage, quill in hand, drafting an artist’s statement for the inevitable retrospective (Oh wait, on Schiaparelli’s Instagram we can actually see this video). “A sculptural exploration of human ambition, couture, and my eventual wing at the Louvre,” perhaps?

Elegance, Yes. Excitement, No.

For a house born of Elsa Schiaparelli’s surrealist rebellion, “Icarus” lacked the playful audacity that made the brand a legend. Where were the provocations? The winks? The moments of sheer, unapologetic weirdness that screamed, “This is Schiaparelli!” Instead, we were treated to pieces so refined, so polished, they felt as though they’d been pre-approved by a board of historians.

Sure, the sculptured corsets was flawless. But haute couture isn’t just about perfection – it’s about the unexpected. Roseberry’s pieces looked less like statements and more like artifacts, ready to be encased in glass and studied by future generations. There’s nothing wrong with reverence, but in a house like Schiaparelli, where is the irreverence?

Haute Couture or Performance Art?

As the models glided down the runway – corseted, sculpted, and draped to within an inch of their lives – the collection felt increasingly disconnected from reality. The practicality of wearing these garments was clearly beside the point. This wasn’t couture to be worn; this was couture to be critiqued from a museum bench. So self-conscious… The eccentricity that made Schiaparelli relevant seems to have been boxed away, ready to be exhibited with the label: “As envisioned by Daniel Roseberry.”

Take the sculptural corsets, for instance. They seemed like they would be more at home on a mannequin than a human body. The archival embroidered fabrics, while beautiful, felt more like a history lesson than a celebration of the present. It was as though Roseberry had been designing with a Louvre gift shop postcard rack in mind, rather than the clients who might actually wear these pieces.

It felt less like a nod to Schiaparelli’s history and more like a wink to Roseberry’s ambitions: “See you in the museum catalog, darling.”

Ego With Wings

And let’s talk about that title. “Icarus.” Was it a self-aware nod to the precarious balance between ambition and failure? Or just a heavy-handed metaphor for soaring too close to the sun? Either way, it’s hard not to see the irony. Roseberry’s ambitions are clear – he’s gunning for immortality, and he’s willing to pin his name instead of Schiaparelli (I hope now he knows how to spell it correctly) to a museum wall to get there. But in his pursuit of legacy, has he clipped the house’s wings?

The collection felt more like an application for historical relevance than a celebration of the here and now. By aiming so squarely for posterity, Roseberry risks losing the vibrancy, the unpredictability, and, frankly, the fun that makes haute couture worth celebrating. This collection wasn’t made for closets; it was made for display cases. Was it because he didn’t make it this time again to “Louvre Couture” exhibition? It’s as if the entire collection is trying to be remembered before it’s even been forgotten.

A Beautiful Crash Landing

In the end, “Icarus” was a triumph of technical skill in sculpting – but it left little room for life. Haute couture is meant to inspire, to excite, to challenge. This collection? It was museum giftshop-worthy, perhaps. But was it alive? Or was it simply a very elegant, very expensive cautionary tale about ambition and ego?

Spring Summer 2025 Haute Couture collection felt less like a runway show and more like a pitch deck for the Louvre. Every stitch, every seam seemed calibrated to evoke grandeur, as though the designer himself was envisioning these pieces framed behind glass. Was this couture for the house or for Daniel Roseberry’s ego and future plaque in the “20th-21st Century Fashion” wing?

Perhaps this is the ultimate long game – a bid to cement Schiaparelli (and Roseberry) in the pantheon of haute couture legends. But in doing so, it risks trading audacity for approval. The daring, rebellious spirit of Schiaparelli feels more like a distant memory than a guiding force.

And I was asking myself if the Schiaparelli Haute Couture SS25 was a triumph of craft and elegance? Or was it an exercise in legacy-building for Roseberry’s ego? The answer may lie in the whispers of a Louvre exhibition. Until then, we’ll watch – and wait – as Daniel Roseberry continues sculpting his ego, one corset at a time.

See All Looks Schiaparelli Couture Spring Summer 2025