For Spring/Summer 2026, Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry presented Dancer in the Dark at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, a location chosen for its resonance with art and inspiration rather than spectacle.
Staged in the same gallery that hosted a Brancusi retrospective 18 months earlier, the collection reaffirmed Roseberry’s vision of fashion as a dialogue between creativity and cultural consciousness.
The collection explored the duality at the heart of the house: the intersection of commercial wearability and artistic expression. Roseberry described Schiaparelli as existing “at the crossroads of commercial potential and creative catharsis.” His designs paid tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli’s original spirit, defined not by radical new silhouettes, but by her engagement with the cultural pulse of her era. Yves Saint Laurent once called her “a comet lighting up the night sky in Paris,” a sentiment that echoed through this season’s precise tailoring and surreal detailing.
The show opened with the Schiaparelli jacket: a structured, clean design with sharp shoulders and restrained detailing, representing what Roseberry termed tailleur rigour. This aesthetic extended through long, lean column gowns rendered in a focused palette of black, bone white and crimson red. Though minimalist in tone, the collection showcased a wide range of craftsmanship, from fluid slip-on dresses to intricate jacquard knitwear. The trompe l’oeil knit pieces, derived from Roseberry’s own sketches, referenced Elsa Schiaparelli’s iconic knits while reinterpreting them through a modern lens.
Accessories played a significant role, merging surrealism with functionality. The brand’s signature Secret handbag appeared in soft, pliable forms inspired by Salvador Dalí’s melting clocks, while shoes and bags were conceived as sketches brought to life. Every accessory was designed to evoke surprise and delight, extending the maison’s tradition of whimsy and artistry into daily life.
Reflecting on six years at Schiaparelli, Roseberry noted how the boundaries between couture and ready-to-wear have blurred. What was once perceived as a liability, creating ready-to-wear with couture-level attention, has become the house’s strength. “Why can’t fashion, even everyday fashion, be art?” he asked. With Dancer in the Dark, Roseberry offered an answer: garments that invite both fantasy and freedom, transforming the act of dressing into a moment of joy and self-expression.
