Unhuman and otherworldly is exactly how I would describe Daniel Roseberry’s approach to dressmaking. This season Roseberry directly references that notion in the form of alien, marian forms. Schiaparelli’s “Schiaparalien” show was nothing short of a cosmic experience, staged at the illustrious Petit Palais in Paris—a setting that dealt as if it had been plucked straight from the stars. The grandeur of the space, with its sweeping arches and gilded derailed, was transformed into a celestial stage where the boundaries of time and space seemed to dissolve. Roseberry put on a show that forced the past, present, and future to collide. This season he is not just reaching for the stars—he’s dressing them. 

Throughout the collection, Roseberry expertly blended references to Elsa Schiaparelli’s legacy. The keyhole motifs, anatomical shapes, and astrological symbols that have become synonymous with Schiaparelli were all present, but were reimagined. The influence of Elsa’s uncle, Giovanni Schiaparelli, the famed astronomer who discovered channels on Mars and coined the term “Martian,” was also keenly felt. The collection paid tribute to this cosmic discovery. 

The runway itself was a visual feast, a gleaming pathway that seemed to shimmer under the lights. Overhead, the domed ceiling of the Petit Palais was adorned with projections of constellations and nebulae.

Lina Zhang opens the show in boxy varnished vinyl armor. The garment’s silhouette was almost alien-like with broad and sculptural shoulders. The piece was inspired by an image of Elsa Schiaparelli herself. A delicate and quite feminine white collar made of silk crochet and Swarovski crystal overlaps with the rather rigid dress material. Elsa was taken to space!

Next, a look striding down the runway that screams “intergalactic chic!” she wears a stiff, black vinyl ensemble that is part cowboy, part alien conqueror. The broad shoulder silhouette is present here as well. Wool twill trousers lined with silver metal cowboy belt buckles anchor the look. 

The garments. Oh, the garments! Each piece was a revelation, a masterful blend of tradition and innovation, the known and the unknown. One of the most striking aspects of the collection was Roseberry’s departure from the overly sculptural gold forms that had become a hallmark of his previous collections. This season, those golden elements were not displayed but concealed and integrated into the very fabric of the garments. Subtle elements took precedence over making a spectacle. 

The look that exploded all over social media is one worn, or rather held by Schiaparelli house muse, Maggie Maurer. Her cargo pants are couture with large pockets and upside down shoulder pads, almost as if she had been in the middle of taking off her space suit. She holds a puppet, a toddler robot made entirely from defunct motherboards and electronic waste. The swirling endless conversations of AI sparked the creation of the alien robot baby.  Look 6 was a direct reference to Sigourney Weaver’s iconic character, Ellen Ripley, from the Alien franchise. This was no mere tribute, but a couture reinterpretation that fused nostalgia with a commentary on our present-day obsession with technology. 

Staying on the theme of technology, Hana Soukupove wore a dress made of paradoxically obsolete digital gadgets. Cameras, headphone wires, calculator, and compact discs were tastefully collaged onto the piece. Swarovski crystals were meticulously placed all over the dress to embellish the junk. 

Each piece told its own unique story. For instance, the suit adorned with horse-dressing knots was a nod to Roseberry’s Texan roots, but was executed in a way that still tastefully upheld the traditions of the Schiaparelli house. The exaggerated epaulets, spiked with these knots, crowned a towering bodice. The oversized western buckled that cinched the sides of trousers and adorned boots and jackets were a perfect blend of rugged Americana and high fashion. 

Models were cocooned in structural pods, their bodies enveloped in ballooning skirts and voluminous fabrics that seemed to defy gravity. A crêpre de laine jacket is shown with synthetic horse hair braids lining the perimeter. More Texan motifs are trickled throughout with fringes like horse tails falling from models shoulders and sublime bandanas tied on waists. Look 12 was particularly mesmerizing. It was a suit set made entirely  from a pearlescent fabric that shimmered with every step. It almost looked liquid! The fabric’s sheen, combined with the sharp tailoring created an effect that was both otherworldly and undeniably chic. 

While most of the pieces in the collection were wildly imaginative, Daniel took a more literal approach to the skeleton dress. He directly took codes from the dress originally created by Elsa Schiaparelli who took inspiration from Salvator Dalí in 1938. The entire dress is made of beige threads, which almost appear as hay, and are layered together to build an exoskeleton with the famous Schiaparelli shoulders. 

The old world truly met the new world in a hyper-french, but simultaneously hyper-american manner.