Schiaparelli takes us to the nine circles of hell, in all its surrealist glory

Kofi Mframa, Opinions Editor

Daniel Roseberry has done it again, subverting subversions until they can be subverted no more, all while beautifully adhering to the house codes of his foremother, Elsa Schiaparelli. 

As Schiaparelli’s creative director, Roseberry embodied the surrealism that the French fashion house is known for in his most recent Spring/Summer 2023 Haute Couture collection. 

The collection, titled “Inferno,” is inspired by the 14th-century epic poem “The Divine Comedy,” by Dante Alighieri. Most specifically, the author’s journey through the nine circles of hell. The collection is named after this section of the poem.

The collection notably included three hyper-realistic animal sculptures attached to excellently crafted garments. 

“The leopard, the lion, and the she-wolf — representing lust, pride and avarice, respectively — find form here in spectacular faux-taxidermy creations, constructed entirely by hand, from foam, resin and other manmade materials,” Roseberry stated in the program notes.

It’s clear he was inspired by Schiaparelli’s incorporation of animals in her garments like her famous lobster hat and other designs.

However, the intent behind Roseberry’s inclusion of these animal sculptures was missed by many. Dissenters of the faux-taxidermy animal heads say the heads glorify trophy hunting and the murder of endangered animals for the elite’s enjoyment. Some go as far as to say this collection could inspire people to go out and kill a real lion to imitate the look.

If anything, the inclusion of these sculptures shows that we don’t need to harm animals to create art inspired by nature. Besides, those who already enjoy poaching and trophy hunting see the act of killing as the trophy while the dead animal is just collateral. 

The uproar this has caused makes it hard for me to see the ethical line when it comes to our relationship with animals. If fake animal heads on garments are unethical, wouldn’t stuffed animals be distasteful as well? Is it okay that we adorn imitation leopard print, cheetah print and animal leathers? If so, the heads should be no different. 

They serve as an explicit reminder of the real animals whose skin we wear on our shoulders — whose bodies we carnage to nourish our own. We can look into the resin eyes and imagine a live animal before us. Such a stark confrontation of our consumption was sure to spark discomfort and outrage.

Nevertheless, the show’s intent was never to critique any usage of animal parts in fashion. The intention was to show Roseberry’s connection with Dante’s “Inferno.”

Various garments on the runway were inspired by the slippery, house-of-mirrors quality of the nine circles of hell, according to the program notes. Dresses were given life as sequins made from leather-slicked slabs of tin danced in reflected light as models promenaded down the runway. 

An extravagant plastron adorned with mother of pearls and gilded ornaments catches the eye.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Schiaparelli show without nods to the past. Roseberry referenced Schiaparelli’s baroque period dresses and the exaggerated silhouette of the Tallyrand suit from 1945. 

Although almost every look had the silhouette’s signatures — exaggerated hips and shoulders with a waist snatched into oblivion — two looks reimagined the Tallyrand suit in the contemporary: one in navy wool enhanced with ecru stripes and another in dark brown cotton with a plunging neckline. 

Roseberry’s affinity for “The Divine Comedy” goes deeper than his connection to its aesthetics.

“What appealed to me in the Inferno wasn’t just the theatrics of Dante’s creation — it was how perfect a metaphor it provided for the torment that every artist or creative person experiences when we sit before the screen or the sketchpad or the dress form, when we have that moment in which we’re shaken by what we don’t know,” Roseberry wrote.

Roseberry said this collection is an “homage to doubt” — the doubt of things unknown. Is it a real lion head? Is it mimicry? And the doubt that fills our minds as we try to explain our aversion to one thing or another. 

What is undoubted is the beauty of this collection and the talented house ateliers that brought these surrealist pieces to life.