Totally intrigued with fabulousness but also wondering just how Schiaparelli’s creative director Daniel Roseberry could keep the magic moving, there is deep appreciation this evening for the Schiaparelli Spring Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection. It is drop-dead distinctive, arty sophistication fit for alluring, drama-loving, statement-making women with confidence, super smarts and backbone.

Did we say timeless without being boring? Surreally understated? A celebration of the human form? Models Dilone, Maggie Maurer, Nadia Lee Cohen, Roughy Faye and Suzi De Givenchy are styled by Marie Chaix./ Hair by Jawara

Shockingly Fantastic

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs’s Schiaparelli exhibition, “Shocking!,” is drawing significant crowds, with collections that remind us that the designer was a true artist.

“It’s very interesting for us to show she has this visual and literary culture that very few people had at the time.” Creative director Roseberry points out that she seized on the shifting creative forces of her time. “I think when she was working with Cocteau and Dalí and others, those barriers between art and fashion were begging to be broken down. There was an invitation in a way for that to be culturally challenged.”

Is it that we are hungry for “Shocking!” So many of Roseberry’s designs are sophisticated, ues, but also wearable for a confident woman.

“The past three years we’ve been building this reputation, this language through the couture and the red carpet,” the designer said about his time at Schiaparelli. “The next three will be about building the business side of it too.”

“The more extraordinary, the more luxurious, the more exquisite, the more people are inclined to buy,” Roseberry said of his suits — garments so gorgeous that you want to wear them. Be overdressed. Who cares. You will be noticed and for all the right reasons.

Whatever haughty scorn is sent your way, just remember they are utterly green with envy that you not only dare to wear Schiaparelli but that you look unforgettably fabulous in these clothes. For once I want to forget that modernity doesn’t allow for excess. This is refined excess, only a moderate amount of grandeur.

Most people flip around the word chic without having any real sense of what ‘chic’ is. The restoration of Schiaparelli reminds us of the true meaning of the word.