MELBOURNE.- As part of the 2023 NGV Triennial, French couture house Maison Schiaparelli presents a selection of eight dramatic and impeccably crafted garments designed by artistic director Daniel Roseberry. Drawn from recent couture collections, the works are displayed alongside an eye-catching selection of Schiaparelli surrealist jewellery and accessories.

Since his debut autumn-winter collection for Schiaparelli in July 2019, artistic director Daniel Roseberry has been at the forefront of contemporary fashion culture. The NGV Triennial presentation highlights Roseberry’s interest in pushing the boundaries of couture practice, his belief in fantasy and his view that art and fashion can question, shape and address the concerns of contemporary life. The works on display reflect the intersections between his contemporary vision for the Maison Schiaparelli and the design codes and legacy of founder and namesake Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973). 

Highlights include Look 25, Nuage (cloud) dress from the Transformations autumn-winter 2019 collection. Meters of billowing and ballooning fabric defy physics to create a cloud-like illusion. Aided by an internal hand-forged metal structure, the material hovers above the wearer before morphing and torquing the body to from a minidress. For Roseberry, the collection was an exploration of ‘volume and freedom and [a] celebration of the body’.

For his third collection, Roseberry aimed to challenge popular ideas of what ‘couture is and should be’. Interrogating silhouettes, fabrics and embellishments, Roseberry embraced the unconventional by playing with exaggeration and the unexpected. Look 15, dress, also on display, references founder Elsa Schiaparelli’s signature colour – shocking pink – which she adopted from 1937. The work also pays homage to Schiaparelli’s embrace of the uncanny and surreal, with metres and metres of fabric seemingly suspended from large hoop earrings.

Look 6, Minidress and hat​ from The Matador collection, autumn-winter 2021–22, is a direct homage to an Art Deco evening coat from Autumn 1937 made by Elsa Schiaparelli. The original work features a double image on the back: one of two faces in profile, the other of a vase of roses. Executed in shell-pink silk applique, the roses are multiplied, extending across the upper bodice and cascading down the sleeves. To achieve this, Roseberry worked with long-standing French embroidery house Lesage, who made the original 1937 version.

The garments are presented alongside a gilded selection of costume jewellery and accessories, including the recognisable Bust bag​ from spring-summer 2021, with its moulded leather torso, as well Roseberry’s anatomical eyeglasses, finger pieces, earrings and breastplates.

The presentation sees the works enclosed within a celestial space immersing visitors through video projection and sound.

​ Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV, said: ‘Maison Schiaparelli is one of the most iconic Paris couture houses and this special display, housed within the 2023 NGV Triennial, highlights the dynamism and artistry of its current director, Daniel Roseberry. The display showcases Roseberry’s passion for challenging all of couture’s cliches, while simultaneously showcasing the artistry at the heart of the discipline.’

Daniel Roseberry, Artistic Director, Maison Schiaparelli, said: ‘Through this exhibition, NGV is championing an inspiring generation of artists and creatives from around the world. It is truly an honour for us to be a part of this moment, and for the Maison Schiaparelli's body of work to have been included in such a special showcase.’

NGV Triennial 2023 is a powerful and moving snapshot of the world today as captured through the work of 100 artists, designers and collectives at the forefront of global contemporary practice, including Tracey Emin, David Shrigley, Sheila Hicks and Yoko Ono. Bringing contemporary art, design and architecture into dialogue with one another and traversing all four levels of NGV International, the NGV Triennial features more than 75 extraordinary projects that invite us to reflect on the world as it is, while also asking how we would like it to be. 

NGV Triennial 2023 is on display from 3 December 2023 – 7 April 2024 at NGV International on St Kilda Road, Melbourne.