When ordinary people think of high-end clothing — extravagant custom designs that use all but extinct techniques, materials and craftsmanship — they probably dream of pieces made of luxurious silk, supple leather, crystal and tulle. Daniel Rosebery thinks about your old phone.
Rosebery, creative director of French fashion house Schiaparelli, presented the brand's 2024 fashion show in Paris on Monday. Under Roseberry's direction, Schiaparelli's shows have become a buzzing event among fashionistas—not only for the front row of the roster filled with celebrity clients but also for the unforgettable, wearable sculptures that are endlessly reposted in the wake of each show. (Even those less exploited by high fashion may recognize this Lion dress last year Or Lady Gaga hunger Games-esque band It was worn at President Joe Biden's inauguration.)
This season's signature pieces from Schiaparelli's show are as symbolic as they are visually captivating: a life-sized robot baby doll and a mini cocktail dress, both completely covered in technological detritus. Old phones, calculators, wires, motherboards, and CDs are used as decorations in the way that sequins or beads decorate less ambitious clothing. Rosebery said the little boy was a reference to alien movies and Tell World Water Day That he mined his memories for inspiration in the age of AI remixing of his collections.
The child – and the dress nicknamed “Mother” – is part human and part thing, emerging from the past and haunting the future. Assembled using materials from the pre-iPhone era, the pieces seem to warn of a robotic-powered inhuman presence. At the same time, they recontextualize technological waste in a simpler time.
“Now, the technology I grew up with is so outdated that it's as difficult to obtain as some of the older fabrics and trims,” Rosebery said books In the show notes.
Old junk suddenly becoming valuable and in demand is nothing new. Indeed, Rosebery's work comes at a time when the Y2K hype and nostalgia cycle is in full swing. This trend is not limited to fashion only. Young people are buying old digital cameras, drawn to the Myspace cam aesthetic they couldn't live by. in This TikTok video is really hilariousOne user takes two iPod Nanos and clips them into her hair. There's that other person who has A wall covered in old keyboards. A Schiaparelli dress that looks like it's early 2000s I spy The page is just the natural progression of the trend.
Every time there's renewed interest in something that's been forgotten, discarded, or commercialized, I think about what we'll be trying to bring back in 20 years. Often times, our rediscoveries have less to do with an item's practical utility (see: iPod Nano hair clips) than with some sort of cultural and social cue. What will become the sign of new generations of technology in the 2020s that you will be looking for on resale sites? Maybe that little orange box with clickable buttons and a cute name?
The photos on my family's old Canon digital camera are no better than my iPhone, and in fact, they're more complicated to use. But that didn't stop me from taking it out of storage and bringing it to a party recently and taking photos of friends and strangers. It wasn't like being a kid who took selfies after school and never got published in any kind of feed. But it was fun to remember and remind others that there was a time when all of this was different, and that I was there.
Future teen idol. Typical social media ninja. Alcohol buff. Explorer. Creator. Beer advocate.”