Christian Lacroix has been enlisted to design a one-off collection of 15 dresses for Schiaparelli.
The French fashion house will unveil the collection during Julys couture fashion week at 21 Place Vendome, the Paris address where Elsa Schiaparelli, the legendary designer famed for her lobster and telephone hats and her use of shocking pink, first launched her studio. The collection will pay homage to the legendary designer, with Lacroix set to reinterpret some of her most iconic pieces.
Lacroix has been sorely missed on the couture schedule since his eponymous line closed after over 20 years, back in 2009. And while his designs are, of course, under wraps for now, he says of Schiaparelli, In this persona incarnating a true aristocrat, one finds a spirit where mathematics and literature as well as poetry coexist: Elsa is a sacred sphinx who never ceases to interrogate us while offering us new enigmas as answers. Art, theatre and cinema my wish is to reposition Elsa at the centre of her maison and on the stage from which she once seduced the world.
The Lacroix collection will be the first in an ongoing series of collaborations each year the label will team up with a different artist from the contemporary fashion and art world. And, while the house is still searching for a new artistic director, it will continue to offer up seasonal collections too.
