A Full-Circle Moment for the House of Schiaparelli and Bergdorf Goodman
At first the revived house of Schiaparelli moved slowly. Diego Della Valle bought the heritage brand, sleepy but ripe with potential, in 2007. It wasn’t until 2013 that the Paris label launched haute couture (Bertrand Guyon is the current design director), and it took another five years for ready-to-wear to enter the picture. But now that it has, and with an innovative limited-edition collaboration model, things are moving very fast indeed. This week, Bergdorf Goodman will open a pop-up shop on the fourth floor selling Story #1, which celebrates house founder Elsa Schiaparelli’s fruitful friendship with the famous Surrealist Man Ray. It’s the first time since 1954, when dear Elsa shuttered her label, that it’s been sold outside the company’s 21 Place Vendôme headquarters—a nice full-circle moment considering that Bergdorf’s sold Schiaparelli for a good two decades starting in 1931.
First, a word about the ready-to-wear. Schiaparelli has officially dubbed it prêt-à-couture, which isn’t a stretch when you consider the workmanship that has gone into the embroidered tailleurs and one astounding cape traced with a ring of trompe l’oeil jewels around its shoulders. But in fact, it’s quite a broad offering, encompassing extravagant pussy bow blouses and everyday cashmere sweaters; shirtdresses and jackets printed with a collage of well-known Man Ray prints; and a clever T-shirt appliquéd with the artist’s iconic teardrops. Story #1 also includes an extensive jewelry offering and the house’s first handbag, the Secret, so named for the padlock hardware, itself one of Schiaparelli’s iconic signatures. New Story collections will roll out four to six times a year; the house is mum of future “collaborators,” but page through the new book Schiaparelli and the Artists and it’s easy to see the possibilities; Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, and Alberto Giacometti numbered among her close friends.
Bergdorf’s Linda Fargo, senior vice president of the fashion office and store presentation, is particularly pleased about Schiaparelli’s homecoming. Over the phone, she recalled a long courtship between Schiap and BG, one that began with a love letter of sorts back in 2007. “I was an artist before I moved into fashion and retail, and Schiaparelli was a natural to me. I was always drawn to the fantasy—the doves, the collaborations with the best Surrealists of the time—so my antenna went up when I read Diego Della Valle bought the name.” She’ll turn the store’s Fifth Avenue windows over to Schiaparelli and the cover of the store’s holiday magazine. “As much as this is about legacy, it still feels modern,” she adds. “It’s above and beyond fashion. You’re collecting something—something that’s so beautiful, you could hang it on the end of your mantel to look at it.” Fargo has her eye on the shocking-pink taffeta blouse.
