The chimeras of the Schiaparelli haute couture show

By Camille Bois-Martin.

When Michelangelo enters the world of Schiaparelli

Season after season, Schiaparelli immerses us in a world haunted by anthropomorphic creatures and captivating silhouettes. But for the Spring/Summer 2026 couture show, Daniel Roseberry cites a single, specific inspiration – the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo in Rome in the 16th century.

While traveling to the Eternal City last autumn, the American designer discovered the blue vaulted ceiling crowded with enigmatic characters and monsters. This masterpiece was painted by the Italian genius more than 500 years ago. “Thought stops. Feeling begins,” Daniel Roseberry wrote in his show notes, moved by this aesthetic shock. It qualified that “revelation” as “the entire emotional heartbeat of this season.” From that moment, his imagination started running wild and his hands began sketching “crisp lines and scribbles”, until the first pieces of this captivating collection gradually emerged.

On the runway, the models appear like chimeras, coming straight out of Daniel Roseberry’s imagination. The designer dived back into his enchanted memories of Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment and conjured up a giant stinger and snake teeth. These haute couture creatures are utterly fascinating, spellbinding, intimidating even.

The night birds of the Spring/Summer 2026 couture collection

Far from the traditional red-carpet gowns, the collection features looks crafted from hand-cut lace sculpted in bas-relief. The resulting 3D effect creates depth and mysterious shadows. In order to echo the Italian master’s gesture, the feathers adorning the real or trompe-l’œil silk jackets and sheath dresses are hand-painted. Even more striking, fluorescent tulle is layered beneath the lace to produce a sfumato effect. That painting technique softens transitions between colours and blurs contours, like in Leonardo da Vinci’s portraits.

The silhouettes walk the runway like so many night birds, sprung from Daniel Roseberry‘s dreams, or nightmares. Sculptures made from silk feathers, with beaks cast in resin and eyes made of cabochon stones, appear in the collection’s accessories.

Wings unfold on the backs of skirts and dresses, as a reminder of Elsa Schiaparelli’s passion for sea and sky creatures. For instance, her fascination with lobsters, her favorite painting, Birds in a Cage, by Pablo Picasso in 1937, or her love for the keyhole – an emblematic symbol of the fashion house. Perhaps Daniel Roseberry has finally managed to find the key and open the doors to a world inhabited by chimeras…