Paris, Texas
Vogue US|September 2023
Daniel Roseberry, the creative director of the Surrealist-rooted Maison Schiaparelli, is the toast of the couture. Nathan Heller finds that his path from the Dallas suburbs to the Place Vendôme is equally out of the ordinary.
Nathan Heller
Paris, Texas

Long before the summer showing of Schiaparelli’s couture collection, Daniel Roseberry, the house’s creative director, gathered his thoughts as he always did: by starting from the future that he hoped to reach. He imagined a review of the collection in the press, and wrote a version of it, line by line. He grew up in Texas and, on arriving in Paris to lead Schiaparelli toward a new phase of growth in 2019, worked to find a narrative order for the rangy span of his creative life. Roseberry loves reviews, their clarity and judgment—given the choice, he’d often rather read reviews of movies than see them. Imagining a critic approaching his fashion helps him find its big emotions, its broad sweep. “If I can identify and anticipate in my mind what people want to see, I can work backward,” he explained. “How do I make that review come to life?”

A few months later, Roseberry is assessing a brown felt coat with a swirling, cowl-like lapel being walked up and down the room before him by a model with neat auburn hair. This is Paris, early July, and the couture collection he imagined in the spring will travel down the runway in just two days’ time. At the moment, more than two dozen pieces, four tables of accessories, and a cast of models must be matched and gathered into a coherent whole. If he fails, his runway will seem scattershot and random. If he succeeds, the collection will achieve its own daring inevitability: the haunted rightness of a strange dream brought to life.

“Some of these could be good,” he murmurs, picking up bonelike gold-and-stone extensions, to be used as earrings.

“Separate?” one of the models asks.

Roseberry nods. “One, two,” he says, gesturing at his own ears.

This story is from the September 2023 edition of Vogue US.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 2023 edition of Vogue US.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM VOGUE USView All
From A to Zac
Vogue US

From A to Zac

Zac Posen's arrival at Gap was a surprise to many, yet the former wunderkind of New York fashion is loving every minute of his new life. Irina Aleksander meets him as he goes big and gets ready to dress America.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
McGIRR'S MCQUEEN
Vogue US

McGIRR'S MCQUEEN

A year ago, Seán McGirr came out of nowhere to lead Alexander McQueen, one of fashion's most storied and emotionally charged houses. Hayley Maitland meets the genial young Irishman writing McQueen's next chapter.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
TESTING GROUND
Vogue US

TESTING GROUND

Sanaz Toossi brings English, her play about the trials of learning a new language, to Broadway.

time-read
2 mins  |
Winter 2025
IN STEP
Vogue US

IN STEP

Margaux Anbouba plays footsie with the final frontier of vintage shopping: shoes.

time-read
5 mins  |
Winter 2025
Through the Looking Glass
Vogue US

Through the Looking Glass

Sam McKinniss's Connecticut home is a magical, maximalist mash-up, tying together riotous color, throwback Americana, and the artist's uncanny visions of popular culture.

time-read
7 mins  |
Winter 2025
MAN ON WIRE
Vogue US

MAN ON WIRE

ADRIEN BRODY IS DRAWN TO HIGH-RISK ROLES AND FILMS THAT PUSH HIM TO EXTREMES. NOTHING HE'S DONE COMPARES TO THE BRUTALIST.

time-read
10 mins  |
Winter 2025
MIRACLE DRIP
Vogue US

MIRACLE DRIP

NAD+ infusions have become increasingly popular, promising to magically turn back the clock. But are they too good to be true? Mattie Kahn investigates.

time-read
5 mins  |
Winter 2025
WHEN SPORTS MET FASHION...
Vogue US

WHEN SPORTS MET FASHION...

Athletes as muses? The stadium as runway? The arena as front row? Fashion and sport needed no introduction, but lately they've become obsessed. Maya Singer reports.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
FINAL CUT
Vogue US

FINAL CUT

\"WE WANT YOU TO GO FOR IT!\" ANNA TOLD ME

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2024
SCREEN TIME
Vogue US

SCREEN TIME

Three films we can't wait to see.

time-read
1 min  |
December 2024