Meet Marco Zanini, who is helping revive the house of Schiaparelli
Marco Zanini talks to Jing Zhang about resurrecting the house of Schiaparelli after 59 years - a task the famous couturière was unable to do after the second world war
Marco Zanini sits back in the Place Vendome atelier in Paris, making himself comfortable in his new position. Becoming creative director for the long- dormant fashion house, Schiaparelli, he says, is a mixed bag.
"I have this feeling of great joy, great pride and great responsibility, as well," he says. "This house has a legacy that is really unique and incredible."
Couture is tradition that must be preserved and pampered
Zanini took the position after several months of negotiations with Tod's owner Diego della Valle, who acquired the label in 2006. The 42-year-old Swedish-Italian designer had just completed the spring-summer runway for Rochas, and is taking on Schiaparelli's couture and prêt-à-couture (its version of ready-to-wear) immediately for Haute Couture Fashion Week in January.
Much has been said and written about Elsa Schiaparelli, Coco Chanel's arch-rival, since della Valle's acquisition. Her fashions were popular from the mid-1920s until the second world war. When the Nazis took over Paris in 1940, she fled to New York, then returned after the war only to find that fashions had changed. Unable to adapt, she closed the business in 1954 - but had left her mark.
"Schiaparelli's approach to fashion really represents a unique way to combine fashion, art and culture," Zanini says. "She represented a very central cultural figure of the 20th century, not just in fashion but beyond."