Schiaparelli set to relaunch

Italian fashion label Schiaparelli, which is the focus of the Metropolitan Museum’s latest exhibition, has announced that it’s to be relaunched by its owner Diego Della Valle, who is the president and CEO of the Italian leather goods company,

Tod’s.

The fashion house hasn’t announced a creative director, who will be introduced in October, but the brand has confirmed that its return will be led by French actress and model Farida Khelfa, a former muse to Azzedine Alaïa, Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler during the Eighties, who will act as the label’s new ambassador.

“It's with great enthusiasm and pride that I have decided to represent Elsa Schiaparelli. She is the very first designer who mixed fashion art and Haute Couture, inspiring so many designers over the year’s right until today,” commented Farida Khelfa.

Schiaparelli’s return will begin with the opening of the Maison Schiaparelli on Place Vendôme in July, the residence where the designer dominated the scene during the thirties and forties. This will be the location used to showcase the new collection from Schiaparelli, which will be presented in March 2013, with a strong focus on accessories, fragrances and cosmetics.

“Elsa Schiaparelli, source of inspiration for many fashion designers for her exceptional and absolutely exclusive ideas, returns to the fashion scene and becomes the real icon of the future,” added Diego Della Valle. “A very loyal but very contemporaneous representation of her works will pursue its real objectives: go back to the “dream” and its modernity. The aim is not to impose a fashion dictate, but to create a product that is the best you can get in terms of taste and quality, with all the necessary time it needs to be realized.”

Della Valle, which also relaunched footwear label Roger Vivier in 2002, and owns the rights to Tod’s, bought Schiaparelli back in 2007 but no designs were ever released. The rumours that the fashion house was set to relaunch started in March, with John Galliano rumoured to be its new head of design, however this hasn’t been confirmed, and the company is being tight-lipped on who is on the shortlist for the coveted creative director role.

The Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, which was celebrated with the museum's annual gala this week, runs until August 19.

Image: Portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli by Teddy Piaz