The Biden Inauguration was a veritable procession of major looks – maybe more poignant than usual, given our current dearth of red carpet and runway action. From VP Harris’s Christopher John Rogers ensemble to a newfound obsession with Ella Emhoff among fashion Twitter, the ceremony culminated in custom Schiaparelli by Daniel Roseberry, donned by couture veteran, Lady Gaga. The look drew ample comparisons to Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games series on social media, an apt conclusion, given that Schiaparelli was a key influence on the movies’ costume designs. But there is more to Schiaparelli’s history that may have informed today’s display.
When Elsa Schiaparelli entered the world of French couturiers in the 1930’s, she quickly established herself as a foil for the refined, LBD-centric vision of Coco Chanel. Schiap’s designs quickly became identifiable by their “shocking pink” hues, motifs nodding to avant-garde topics like paganism and the circus, and frequent collaboration with the darlings of Surrealism from Dali to Duchamp.
One such piece, a navy overcoat from FW1940, features cast buttons designed by Jean Cocteau. The buttons depict a gold dove trapped in the clutches of ivory hands, emblematic of the political turmoil of the interwar years, and the conflict between fair France and antagonistic Germany.
Doves also figure prominently in the works of Pablo Picasso following the completion of his magnum opus, Guernica, which dealt with the Spanish Civil War during the same period. Picasso was a contemporary and close friend of Schiaparelli, even gifting her a piece that showed two doves – one black and one white – trapped in a cage. It is fitting then, that Daniel Roseberry and Lady Gaga would feature a gold dove for today’s inauguration look… The Picasso undoubtedly influenced Schiap’s designs, and may even be a forbearer for today’s Gaga confection.
One could speculate on the prescience of drawing on archival designs that reference political turmoil and even civil war, as Gaga’s backdrop of the Capitol steps were only two weeks ago the apparent precipice of civil war here in the states. Many have further speculated that Gaga’s look was inspired by the fictional heroine Katniss Everdeen, when in fact, it was archival Schiaparelli that inspired the wardrobe for the Hunger Games franchise.
This inversion of symbols and what we attribute to them – citing Hunger Games as the inspiration for a Schiaparelli design, rather than the other way around – is emblematic of the warped meanings national symbols have taken on in the last four years. Even our grandest of symbols, the American Flag, has been relegated from ubiquitous accoutrement of lapels on both sides of the political spectrum to a la carte fare alongside confederate and nazi symbols at violent insurrections.
Today’s inaugural fashion included jewel tones, not fully red or blue, with the exception of the First Lady, and mostly monochrome overcoats (Emhoff’s Miu Miu masterpiece notwithstanding). Gaga and Roseberry’s olive branch-bearing dove takes a decidedly more heavy-handed approach with the symbolism, a true testament to the flair of Elsa Schiaparelli and her cadre of collaborators.
SHEELY TAYLOR CONSULTING 
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