Centurion Australia Summer 2013

style & beauty HIGH

style & beauty HIGH DESIGN Right: Sainte- Nitouche, a Lacroix creation for the Paris show; below: a 1935 illustration of Schiaparelli’s work by Christian Bérard Left: Shari Herbert, a top US model of the time, in a tight grape taffeta gown by Schiaparelli; above: the designer’s elegant dresses captured in illustrated form Paris’s haute couture week, they were not for sale at any price, despite having garnered widespread media coverage, especially the heavy, beaded, doublelayer cape that required 380 hours of work and 40 metres of fabric. Indeed, while the Schiaparelli name has been on fashionistas’ lips for the past two years, it has not yet put a single item up for sale – the build-up part of the strategy devised by the house’s owner, Diego Della Valle of the Tod’s Group, one of the founders of the highly successful ”Made in Italy” movement and benefactor of a number of restoration projects, most notably the Colosseum in Rome. Della Valle purchased the name and archives in 2006, 52 years after Schiaparelli shut the doors of its salon and apartment on venerable Place Vendôme. Rather than rushing into commerce, he first acquired and set about restoring the apartment, tracking down original items and commissioning young artists to make new pieces in the bold spirit that Schiaparelli loved. For over a year, the house’s ambassador, elegant former model and couture director Farida Khelfa, has shown interested observers Photos Clockwise from top left: © schiaparelli, Getty Images, Hulton Archive/Getty Images, Nina Leen/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images 66 CENTURION-Magazine.COM

story XXXXXXXX style & beauty Photos Clockwise from top left: Getty images, Sharland/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images, Nina Leen/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images, Christophe roué Clockwise from above: Lacroix’s Signature design for his homage collection at Paris Haute Couture Week; at work; the restored hall of a mink-trimmed peignoir by mirrors at her famed Parisian Schiaparelli; the designer, left, apartment on Place Vendôme around it, but as for clothes – rien. Lacroix, who these days designs everything from ballet costumes to hotel interiors, says he loved the project – “making her ideas that were revolutionary then look modern now, like turning a decorative peplum or collar into practical pockets” – but had no intention of being the permanent designer. That honour falls to Marco Zanini, who was only announced in October but has to show the first couture selling collection in January, with ready-to-wear in March. Della Valle was in no hurry to appoint. As he says, the collection “will be a loyal but contemporary representation of her works that aims not to impose a fashion diktat but to create the best you can get in terms of taste and quality with all the necessary time it takes to be realised”. His unorthodox approach has built up a huge head of anticipation, perhaps a clever move for a house that will remain deliberately low profile. Despite lavish shows, haute couture is a very discreet industry and, while most houses have corresponding ready-to-wear ranges proffered in their stores round the world, Schiaparelli will make its readyto-wear available only at its salon. “True exclusivity is what luxury means today,” says Khelfa. “Many women who cannot buy haute couture still want very special items that are not overexposed in the market, and that will be our difference.” As a business model it may prove influential – provided that Zanini, with the headline-grabbing example of Lacroix’s archive collection before him, is equal to the task. schiaparelli.com See Schiaparelli designs old and new at CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM CENTURION-Magazine.COM 67