The past and present converge in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s latest exhibit, Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art. Here, Chioma Nnadi, British Vogue’s head of editorial content, joined Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry for a walk-through of their favorite pieces in our latest installment of “Objects of Affection.”

The exhibit spans Elsa Schiaparelli’s pieces through Roseberry’s ongoing tenure. First things first, Roseberry highlights the house’s genesis: Schiaparelli’s first creation—a trompe l’oeil bow sweater from 1927 that comes with a legendary backstory. “Everything kind of came from this,” he explains. “It speaks so much to her modern perspective on the woman’s wardrobe.”

Roseberry also underscores how he used Schiaparelli’s work to blend the past and present. He points to the embroidered “Apollo” dress from spring 2022 couture—his first runway show after COVID lockdown—which features a replica of Schiaparelli’s own embroidery. “It was the first time something from the archives really pulled us in,” he says.

Still, the V&A exhibit also spotlights Roseberry’s own innovations at the brand. Nnadi points to the multicolored “puzzle” dress—a life-sized, hand-painted recreation of Roseberry’s figure paintings. The paillettes, which mimic brush strokes, were each sewn onto a knit dress to create a mosaic-like trompe l’oeil figure. “This is the absolute epitome of modern couture,” Nnadi says. “It’s one of one. You couldn’t replicate this if you wanted to.”

The hallmark of any Schiaparelli collection? “The Schiap jacket is the thing,” Roseberry says. “It’s typically very silhouetted, often sharp-shouldered, and heavily embroidered.” While outerwear from all walks of the brand’s life are on display, the first one that—as he put it—“announced itself”—was the surrealist Matador jacket from the fall 2021 couture collection. The brief? “It’s Super Bowl Halftime Show and there’s a Schiaparelli pop-star coming up from inside the floor. What is she wearing?”

Watch on here to see the rest of Daniel Roseberry’s objects of affection from the V&A’s Schiaparelli exhibit.

Director: Drue Bisley
Director Of Photography: Scarlett Gardner
Editor: Katie Wolford

Producer: Rashida Josiah
Associate Producer: Anisa Kennar

Assistant Camera: Darius Williams
Gaffer: Will Churchill
Spark: Laura Salagnac
Audio: Caiman Williamson
Runner: Luke Osay
Hair & Makeup Artist: Nohelia Reyes

Production Coordinator: Tanía Jones
Production Manager: Kristen Helmick
Senior Production Manager: Venita Singh-Warner
Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors

Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Post Production Coordinator: Holly Frew
Supervising Editor: Kameron Key
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch

Executive Producer: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Digital Video: Romy van den Broeke
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Video Programming: Thespena Guatieri

Filmed on Location: V&A South Kensington
Images Courtesy of: Emil Larsson