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From the Archive: Luxury of the Past and Present: Schiaparelli

Note: This research paper was written for the class: Fashion & Design in 2022 and has been translated by me from Dutch to English.

No AI was used in the translating or writing of this text.


A sense of superiority and rarity is often associated with the exclusive sector of the fashion industry. Luxury designs are often associated with celebrities wearing them during shows on the red carpet. But haute couture and luxury clothing are more than that. There is a sense of exclusivity and the limited edition nature of a piece. These high-end and unique productions are transforming the activities of many designers into luxury brands intended to satisfy the most refined, exclusive, and defined clientele. It is true that all designers, from Worth to Peter Do and Dior to Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Lagerfeld, or Dimitra Petsa, share a common desire for refinement and innovation in clothing as a canvas for maximum self-expression.


Luxury

A luxury item is not necessary for living, but is considered highly desirable within a culture or society. A person's ability to purchase luxury items usually increases with their income or wealth. So, as one's wealth increases, purchases of luxury items also increase.

Within fashion, this is reflected in the use of high-quality materials, making luxury items last longer than their imitations. Generally, they are created by design studios that have a consistent imprint on the fashion items they produce. As part of the service, customers can also expect the highest quality craftsmanship.

The nineteenth century marked the beginning of the modern luxury goods industry and the launch of the many highly valuable luxury brands we know today. The rapid development of the fashion industry during this period was made possible by the strengthening of social and economic conditions and rising prosperity. Demand for luxury goods remained high and extremely talented and enterprising designers emerged and seized business opportunities made possible by their predecessors. Following the tradition of the previous historical periods, appearance remained an indicator of wealth and social status. Furthermore, fashion became more than a vocation for knowledgeable people and was recognized as a major contributor to economic growth.

One man would change the face of luxury fashion and its marketing and management style forever. Charles Frederick Worth, known as the father of couture, founded the first haute couture house in Paris in 1858. He coined the term 'fashion designer' instead of a simple seamstress. Like an artist, he gives names to his pieces. He changed the way fashion was sold by introducing models and private fashion shows and publicizing his creations through the 'celebrities' and influential women of the day. To protect the fashion industry, he founded the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture ten years later. According to certain specifications, designers had to earn the right to call themselves a couture house. These were later outlined in 1945.

Worth remained the leading fashion power in the early twentieth century. But as other major designers came to prominence and the luxury fashion industry expanded rapidly, natural competition arose. Such as Jeanne Lanvin who started her couture company in 1889, followed by Paul Poiret in 1904, Madeline Vionnet in 1912 and Elsa Schiaparelli, the subject of this paper, in 1927.


Elsa Schiaparelli

Elsa Schiaparelli, born in Rome in 1890, was a Paris-based fashion designer best known for her avant-garde designs inspired by the surrealist movement of the time.


In 1927, she designed her first sweater with a trompe l'œil motif for herself, which aroused the interest of the women around her. The infamous sweater is black and white, with a faux bow and cuffs on the sleeves. The idea originated when she became curious about a friend's sweater. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that the technique, which produced a tweed-like effect, was the work of Armenian immigrants. Aroosiag Mikaelian and her brother produced a range of knitted items for the French wholesaler.


Schiaparelli could not knit herself, so she made a rough sketch and told the pair about her idea.

The designer launched her first collection from her boutique in Paris in 1929, and from there she produced a collection of hand-knitted sweaters, coats, skirts, swimsuits, and crocheted berets. The trompe l'œil prints were once again seen in a range of different images: once again fake bows, scarves, ties, and belts.

Due to the popularity of Schiaparelli, other Armenian women in Paris who were familiar with this method were called upon to increase production. Thanks to these knitters, the knitting technique is now known as 'Armenian'.

From 1935, the couture house moved to 21 Place Vendôme. This is the first modern interpretation of a couture house in which a boutique and a studio are located in a single building.


During her tenure at Schiaparelli, Elsa Schiaparelli collaborated with many surrealist artists. Surrealism emerged in the late 1910s and early 1920s as a literary movement that experimented with a new mode of expression called automatic writing or automatism. This mode of expression attempted to unleash the unbridled fantasy of the subconscious.


The first collaboration between Elsa Schiaparelli and artist Salvador Dalí, a well-known surrealist, is a compact powder case in the shape of a telephone dial. This creation marks the beginning of the duo's long design relationship and their surrealist visions. Other iconic collaborations between her and surrealist artists include the lobster dress, the aspirin necklace, the skeleton dress, the shoe hat, the profile evening coat, etc.


To promote the perfume Shocking, Marcel Vertès, a French costume designer and illustrator, created a series of colorful illustrations in 1937. The bottle, packaging, and advertising were carefully and boldly designed to reflect Elsa's vision of a couture perfume. Elsa based the shape of the bottle on a dressmaker's mannequin modeled after Mae West, an American stage and film actress who was Elsa's client at the time. A trompe l'oeil measuring tape is draped over the shoulders of the bottle. It immediately became a bestseller and remained so for nearly three decades.


Perfume is a more affordable way to introduce a luxury brand to potential new customers. Moreover, those who cannot afford couture can still experience part of the brand. It can also be an interesting medium for presenting a fashion house. Where Elsa Schiaparelli excelled. Her amusing and creative personality was reflected in everything she touched. This meant that anyone who dared to wear her sometimes shocking designs had to possess a strong yet carefree character, just like her.


She left France while it was occupied by the Germans during WWII, but returned after the war to discover that tastes had changed. Unfortunately, times had changed, and Dior's New Look was the latest trend. She could not anticipate the irrational shift in fashion trends.


Pierre Cardin and Hubert Givenchy, both now famous names in couture, each worked at the house for a while in the late 1940s before it closed in 1954. Several decades later, Schiaparelli reopened, following the trend of revitalizing heritage houses.


Evolution of luxury

Luxury was always intended for a specific elite clientele. But recently, the number of haute couture buyers has declined, while ready-to-wear has become somewhat more accessible. According to Thomas, there were more than 200,000 Haute Couture customers in the 1950s, but as of 2004, there were fewer than 200.(2008)

Schiaparelli Couture is often regarded by its customers as a private pleasure. A discreet extravagance. That is the nature of a true haute couture customer. The real backbone of haute couture are these women who will remain nameless, who are very discreet and have no social media. That is an interesting contrast to what they buy and who their opposites are: the ready-to-wear customers who are inclined to flaunt their products.

Most luxury goods companies we know today started a century or more ago as simple one-man shops selling beautiful handmade pieces. Today, those companies still bear the names of the founders, but they are largely owned and controlled by magnates who, over the past two decades, have transformed them into billion-dollar corporations and ubiquitous global brands.


Corporate magnates and financiers saw the potential in heritage brands. They bought or acquired luxury companies from older founders or incompetent heirs, turned the houses into brands, and homogenized everything. The idea was to 'democratize' luxury, to make luxury 'accessible'.

The goal, clear and simple, was to make as much money as possible from it. To achieve this 'democratization', the tycoons launched a two-pronged attack.


First, they mercilessly hyped their brands. They proclaimed the brand's historical heritage and the tradition of craftsmanship to give the products an aura of luxury and legitimacy.

Next, the tycoons made their products more available, both economically and physically. They introduced affordable fashion accessories that almost everyone can afford. Luxury companies finance the expansion of their reach by listing themselves on global stock exchanges. Being public has many advantages for a luxury company: it attracts capital, increases the brand's status, creates management incentives such as stock options, and makes the company more transparent, thereby attracting a higher degree of executive management. But it also makes the company indebted to shareholders who demand profit increases every three months.

To meet those profit forecasts, luxury companies have cut costs: raising product prices, using inferior materials, and quietly outsourcing production to developing countries, causing craftsmanship to fall short. They also introduce cheaply made accessories, for example: logo T-shirts, nylon toiletry bags, handbags, etc. And they expand their perfume and cosmetics lines.

In recent years, historic fashion houses have been bought and revived. The reason is that investment companies are looking for a vehicle to potentially create new luxury brands. The heritage associated with an established name—even if the customer is only vaguely aware of it—supports these labels. The entire business model is about both heritage fashion and a relatively blank canvas on which to write new codes. The model is this: enhance timelessness, beautify the design, and advertise like crazy. Nowadays, there are very few European luxury brands that remain independent and privately owned.


To become leaders of global companies, luxury executives now have to hide from the public not only how their products are made, but also how the individual brands are performing. If the truth were to become widely known, it could damage consumer trust in the brands: they would stop buying, profits would plummet, and the companies—and their parent groups—could go bankrupt. Publicly traded companies must be transparent, meaning they must publish their financial data in their annual reports. But when luxury brands are consolidated into groups, they can lump all their figures together to conceal what is really happening.


Schiaparelli Reborn

Schiaparelli stands out as an example of a fashion house revived that adapts to and achieves success in the modern era. However, the brand did not achieve the success it deserved following its relaunch in 2012. This caused frequent changes in artistic directors in an attempt to find the right person to lead the house. The right person for the brand was found, and Daniel Roseberry was appointed artistic director of Schiaparelli in April 2019. (Terra, 2021)


One of the many reasons why a reborn brand is not as respected as another old brand that has managed to remain relevant over the years, even if it is doing well financially, is the instinct of certain designers tasked with revitalizing a brand. They want to create their own modern vision of the house, while incorporating only a few house codes into each collection.


Alessandro Michele at Gucci is a recent example. By creating such an eclectic aesthetic, he borrowed liberally from every age, expanded his style, and ushered in an era of gender non-conformity that continues to this day. Moreover, he built a following in a fickle industry. Among other things, interest in his formulaic aesthetic seems to have naturally waned. According to Leitch, an anonymous source claimed that Michele was asked to initiate a strong design shift. (2022) If that is the case, it appears that Michele resisted.


Roseberry, on the other hand, has proven so far that you can combine house codes and one's own creative vision into unique and successful collections at the same time. He adapts various characteristics of Schiaparelli to the modern era by telling a new story every season. Those sometimes funny and surreal elements generate recognition and debate online, thereby leading to growth and revenue. Roseberry has stated that when he designs a piece, he does so with the intention of it ending up on the cover of a magazine. (Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, 2021)

Roseberry enjoys referencing stories from Elsa's life. For example, the time when she was younger, she was not considered beautiful by others. Therefore, according to research, she placed seeds in her ears and nose in her ever-surrealistic way and hoped they would grow into flowers. That way, she would be truly beautiful. (Shocking!: Elsa Schiaparelli, 2019)

With this idea of ​​true beauty in mind, he will recontextualize parts of the body that we notice but never emphasize. These elements are best expressed in the jewelry he designs. It is a powerful tool for expressing surrealist themes and captivating viewers. He plays on the edge of vulgarity combined with decontextualization when he adorns a blazer, a garment considered workwear, with two gold (pierced) nipples on the chest. This motif is also used in the form of earrings, buttons, and adorned on bags. It currently appears to be successful in creating a key style for the brand, independent of the strong trends of each season.


Roseberry stated in an interview that the Schiaparelli woman of today is not limited to a single archetype. She is primarily based on what Elsa Schiaparelli would look like and what she would design if she were still alive today. In addition to being a rigorous professional, she is also an exuberant party hostess.


With its exquisite creations, high-quality materials, attention to detail, hefty price tags, and exclusive clientele, haute couture is fashion at its best. To stand out in a highly competitive market, many emerging designers are joining forces with existing brands. A number of fashion houses that enjoyed glory in their decadent years are being revived by talented designers with fresher and bolder perspectives. While some revivals are successful, others face major challenges. It is the work presented here by the House of Schiaparelli, whose glory declined in popularity in the 1930s following World War II due to societal changes. The same house saw renewed success under creative director Daniel Roseberry after earlier failed attempts. The key to its success is the adaptation of the original house codes to modern times without losing its surreal and shocking identity. The House of Schiaparelli effectively distinguishes itself once again as the perfect canvas for unconventional expressionism and distinctive costume creations.




sources

Calefato, P. (z.d.). mode als tekensysteem.

Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. (2021, 5 juli). The Fashion Show with Suzy Menkes:

Daniel Roseberry (Schiaparelli) [Video]. YouTube.

Leitch, L. (2022, 23 november). Alessandro Michele is leaving Gucci. Vogue Business.

Modehuis Elsa Schiaparelli maakt comeback. (2021, 5 mei). FashionUnited.

Okonkwo, U. (2007). Luxury Fashion Branding: Trends, Tactics, Techniques (1st editie). Palgrave Macmillan.

Schacknat, K. (z.d.). De kunst van het mixen.

Shocking!: Elsa Schiaparelli. (2019, juli).

Stevenson, N. J. (2012). Fashion: A Visual History: From Regency & Romance to Retro &

Revolution (Original). St. Martin’s Griffin.

Terra, C. (2021, 9 mei). Daniel Roseberry nieuwe creatief directeur Schiaparelli. FashionUnited.

The Business of Fashion. (2020, 22 september). Tim’s Take with Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry |

Thomas, D. (2008). Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster (Reprint). Penguin Books.


 
 
 

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