HELLO! India Exclusive: Daniel Roseberry and his big dreams for Schiaparelli

For those who still need persuading that fashion and art do, in fact, go hand in hand, Daniel Roseberry’s time at Schiaparelli should clear all dubiety. When he was appointed Creative Director in 2019, Daniel became the first American to head a French couture house — a move that raised eyebrows in Paris but turned out to be one of fashion’s more brilliant plot twists. A Plano (Texas) native who trained at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and spent a decade under the obsessively constructed wing of Thom Browne, Daniel brought to Schiaparelli not European pedigree, but something perhaps more potent — discipline, performance, and an almost meditative instinct for drama.

“I think I’m like a sponge, soaking up the energy and the spaces around me,” he says on a Zoom call, clad in a short-sleeve black T-shirt over a long-sleeve denim-blue one, his salt-and-pepper beard perfectly yet imperfectly manicured. Rather than globetrotting for ideas, Daniel’s inspirations often start much closer to home.

“The big plants we did for, let’s say, the Fall/Winter ’23 haute couture collection, were inspired by my living room. I literally cut the plants in my living room!” Still, there’s nothing small about the results. Since taking on the reins, Daniel has recharged the Schiaparelli universe with big ideas and even bigger silhouettes: skater skirts dyed Yves Klein blue; nude gowns evoking Lucian Freud’s studio; and faux taxidermy animal heads erupting from dresses — directly referencing Dante’s Divine Comedy, and indirectly, the internet’s collective gasp.

One show even featured a robot baby, constructed from hundreds of thousands of components, as a nod to our increasingly polarised digital age. His most recent couture collection, presented in July, included a ruby crystal heart necklace that actually throbbed, worn atop a backward dress — its torso flipped to the back, complete with a sculpted breastplate layered across the spine. “When you’ve broken the internet, like we have a few times — whether it’s with Bella Hadid’s ‘lungs’ or the animals or Beyoncé — you also realise those moments last for maybe two days,” he says. “Even if you feel like you’ve won, you really haven’t. I’m trying to create collections that will live beyond a week of social media attention.”

And somehow, he has. The clothes may have generated memes, but they also sparked conversation, critique, and curiosity — all qualities that were once considered couture’s currency. “I wish I knew why I do this,” he says, when asked what keeps him going. “Sometimes, I wish I could stop it, but I can’t. There’s a sheer, innate desire to create, to release work, and to perform. My life was drastically changed by beauty and fashion. Fashion is also a barbaric and demanding system — but the payoff is that you get to present your work multiple times a year to a captive audience. Just like a drug, I can’t say no to that.” It helps that Daniel grew up with performance in his blood.

“My mom was an amazing art teacher. She only had one student — me,” he says. “And my dad mentored me through the church. Watching him lead a congregation and the performance of speaking every week, letting your heart bleed out for people… I learnt a lot from them.”

Then came Thom Browne, whose methodical, monastic work ethic left a permanent imprint. “He set an example for how to be a decent person while also being completely committed to a creative vision. That’s very hard to find in this industry. The fashion system is set up to turn you into a monster. Most creative directors either end up with an addiction, or are really unhappy.” So, Daniel has one answer to rebellion: structure and more structure. “Typically, it’s really intuitive. The more you design, the more normal it becomes to examine previous seasons to assess what worked and what didn’t.”

Elsa Schiaparelli herself might have understood this approach. Born into Italian aristocracy, Elsa launched her eponymous house in 1927 and became one of the most inventive couturiers of the 20th century. In the 1930s, she travelled to India and met the Princess of Kapurthala — a woman of opulence, wit, and serious wardrobe ambition. The meeting inspired Elsa’s 1935 collection, which featured saree-gowns with Grecian drapes. The idea of the saree as a design totem still threads its way into the house’s silhouettes. Even today, Daniel’s couture shows feature cloud-like drapes against perfectly cut greatcoats.

That mix — art, cultural reference, personal memory, and spiritual architecture — is why Schiaparelli under Daniel feels so rich and unpredictable. Yes, the red carpet has been good to him. Natasha Poonawalla wore a gold-armoured bustier at the 2022 Met Gala that looked like fashion’s answer to kinetic sculpture. Lady Gaga wore a bulletproof navy gown to the US presidential inauguration in 2021. Alia Bhatt wore a blush pink corseted number to this year’s Cannes Film Festival… But the show isn’t just for the cameras.

“I think the couture I design today feels very performative and extremely personal,” he says. “So, I feel like it’s a privilege to be able to share that.” That sentiment also extends to ready-to-wear — another arena where he’s quietly, deliberately redefining the Schiaparelli design language.

“Couture is such an imperative part of the brand, but Schiaparelli has so much more to offer to an everyday wardrobe. The goal is to create extraordinary, everyday pieces,” he explains. “Most luxury brands are pretty boring by the end of the day. Sure, there’s a lot of power, but not a lot of creativity. So, building a brand on the concept of creativity feels like a radical idea.”

And that idea, surprisingly, has room for both showstoppers and subtlety. “Yes, there’s that customer who wants something extremely dramatic,” he says. “There’s also a quieter customer who wants something very beautifully made but with a twist. I want to keep surprising people with the language they know and love.”

Daniel is also clear-eyed about what the business needs today. “We’ve gone and made sure all of our practices are within the regulations that have been put in place by the government,” he says of the brand’s sustainability approach. “Even our packaging is redone using eco-friendly materials. The beauty of this house is that we’re still on a scale where the communication feels large, but the scale of the production is still small and precious.”

Small, yes. But shy? Certainly not. “I’d describe myself as a shy person, maybe,” Daniel says. “But I’m not afraid of taking risks at all. Actually, most of them have paid off.” He’s dressed almost everyone worth dressing. So, who’s left? “Honestly, the question is less ‘who’ and more ‘when.’ Because when you dress someone like Beyoncé, it’s not just about who it is; it’s about what they’re doing. Our most iconic moments weren’t just about the person but about the moment itself.” 

As for what he does when he’s not sketching, sculpting, or social media-ignoring, “I just go back to nature, to the greenery. I know it’s the biggest cliché, but it’s actually the most honest truth.”

And when asked to reveal a secret, “No, thanks” is his prompt response. Which, coming from someone who’s already laid his obsessions, fears, and emotional wiring on the runway, seems perfectly fair.