Even in a city known for statement making façades the entrance to the new Schiaparelli pop-up store inside Dubai Mall’s Fashion Avenue is a sight to behold. The hammered gold exterior and abstract keyhole entrance, framed by an enigmatic eye and nose sets a surreal tone even before stepping inside the space. Launched on December 1, the space might be temporary, just a three-month immersion into the French Maison’s world, but it feels like a milestone. A link, as CEO Delphine Bellini puts it, “between Paris, Dubai, and London,” where Schiaparelli will soon unveil its first major UK exhibition at the V&A.
For Bellini, this moment is the culmination of months of work, but also the natural evolution of a brand experiencing a global rise. “We have this incredible audience,” she says, pointing to the region’s appreciation of craft, couture, and artistic fashion. The Dubai Mall location, she notes, sits at the crossroads of a discerning international customer base “there is an exceptional audience here, and the clientele is so elevated, ”she confirms. One that is able to understand both the Maison’s legacy and its forward-looking creativity.
Creative Director Daniel Roseberry’s recent recognition, as the CFDA’s International Designer of the Year award, underscores Schiaparelli’s momentum. But Bellini insists the brand’s success comes from something deeper than headlines. “Daniel has been wonderful,” she says simply. His leadership is founded on instinct and curiosity, traits that mirror founder Elsa Schiaparelli’s original artistic circle. The Maison has always thrived on surprising collaborations, and Bellini emphasises that nothing about that spirit has changed. “It does not come from a marketing strategy,” she explains. “Along the way Daniel meets people, artists, artisans, personalities who have talent, ideas, and together they create. It is something that feels very organic.”
The new Dubai Mall pop-up embodies this organic, instinctive way of working. Roseberry wanted the space to “transport a bit of the Place Vendôme,” Bellini says. Inside is an intimate re-creation of the Maison’s Paris salons. Inside, the black lacquer, sculptural gold fixtures, and curated ready-to-wear expertly recreates the touchpoints that define Schiaparelli’s universe. “The concept was really to open the door from time to time to the salon of Place Vendôme,” she explains. “The behind-the-scenes and all the cultural aspects.”
Walking through the space, visitors encounter the quirky beauty that defines Schiaparelli: the sharpness of French couture and the surrealist irreverence that the founder introduced to fashion. The Maison’s signatures, anatomical jewelry, sculptural tailoring, the iconic Face and Secret bags appear displayed as though they are objet d’art. It is less a retail space than what Bellini calls “an apartment where you have so many codes of the brand that people are familiar with, and indeed it surprises.”
But beyond aesthetics, the pop-up is designed as a narrative tool. “We wanted this to be a gift that we bring to Dubai for visitors to experience.” she says. For Bellini, Schiaparelli’s role is to create encounters, with craft, imagination, and the lineage of women behind the house. “This story of women entrepreneurs,” she says, is not separate from the pieces on display; it lives in every stitch, motif, and expressive form.
The opening in Dubai aligns seamlessly with the Maison’s future plans in London, where the V&A will host Shocking! The Surreal World of Elsa Schiaparelli, the United Kingdom’s first-ever exhibition dedicated to the designer. Bellini highlights the significance of this moment: “We are going to present the legacy of Ms Schiaparelli,” she says, adding that the show will also explore “how her legacy is being translated by Daniel for today.” The Dubai pop-up becomes, in her words, “a bridge,” offering visitors from the region an amuse bouche of the rich surrealist universe soon to take over the London museum’s galleries.
It also demonstrates how the Maison tailors its approach to each region. “What we could do here,” Bellini says, was shaped by Dubai’s appetite for immersive retail and creative expression. “We have been working for months and months on this project to bring something super innovative,” shares the CEO. The result is a space that feels both intimate and cinematic, a capsule of the Maison’s artistry dropped into the center of one of the world’s busiest luxury destinations.
Part of the magic is the team itself. “We have an amazing team that is passionate about the brand,” Bellini says. Their role is not merely to sell but to guide, to “take each customer around a journey,” she explains. That journey includes storytelling about the Maison, its collaborations, and its modern reinterpretations of surrealism.
Collaboration, after all, is embedded in Schiaparelli’s DNA. Bellini brings up how the founder’s own creative friendships were so fundamental in creating the brand’s distinctive DNA. “When she met Salvador Dalí,” she says, “they were not meant to do something. Their first collaboration was accidental, it was never meant to be something big” Bellini emphasises. Yet it became foundational to the Maison’s myth. That spirit continues today in the house’s relationships with milliner Stephen Jones, artist collaborations, and couture-level artisans whose work animates Roseberry’s designs. “It blends beautifully,” Bellini says. “Legacy, but at the same time it is furnished with modernity.”
Leadership at Schiaparelli, Bellini insists, is not about force but stewardship. “I never think about being a female leader,” she says. “I think about being a facilitator to make the projects a reality and Daniel’s dreams come true.” Her role is to support, she says, “to make everything possible.”
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