French designer Christian Lacroix will create a couture collection for the re-launched house of Schiaparelli to be presented in July.
The wheels of re-established couture house Schiaparelli seem to finally be in motion. Following yesterday's rumours that Marco Zanini may be headed there as creative director, today it has been revealed that Christian Lacroix will design a couture collection for the reinvigorated brand which will be shown at Couture Fashion Week in July.
The veteran designer, 62, is best known for his eponymous label and also his reign at Pucci, which he helmed from 2002-2005 (as well as for being constantly referenced by Eddy in Ab Fab - 'It's Lacroix sweety, Lacroix!'). In 2009 his self-named fashion house was put into administration by its owners Falic Fashion Group, and he has since gone on to design hotel interiors and theatre costumes.
"In this veritably elegant character, there is a spirit which is simultaneously mathematical, literary and even poetic, which collides with the worlds of arts, theatre and cinema," Lacroix told French news magazine L'Express of the fashion house (translated from French). "Elsa is a sacred sphinx who will never cease to make us question things, all the while offering new puzzles by way of answers. My wish is to reinstate her at the centre of her fashion house and on the stage through which she seduced the world."
Lacroix will reinterpret 15 of the late couturier's iconic creations for the one-off collection, which will be followed by a series of contributions by acclaimed contemporary artists to pay tribute to Schiaparelli as "the first to marry art and fashion." Schiaparelli was noted for the collaborations with the likes of Salvador Dali, Cocteau and Alberto Giacometti.
The house of Schiaparelli closed after struggling to deal with post-war austerity in the 1950s. It was purchased by Tod's owner Diego Della Valle in 2006 and he confirmed last year that he was trying to relaunch it.
