It wasn’t just the sunshine and blue skies that gave Daniel Roseberry’s Schiaparelli Haute Couture show a distinctly positive vibe. The venue – the Petit Palais ballroom – and undulating curvy runway marked by enormous brass suns reinforced the collection’s “Icarus” theme.

“Icarus is about the promise of escape, which is what Haute Couture can offer the audience and the client,” Roseberry explained backstage. “Stanley Kubrick once said something like: ‘Everyone thinks the lesson of Icarus is not to fly too close to the sun. What if the lesson is to build better wings?’ There is no tragedy here, just better wings and better angels.”

The designer explored new directions – think less gold and surrealism and more muted metallics, softer shades, and turn-of-the-century embroidery techniques. There was a distinct sense of freedom to these looks.

“[Elsa] Schiaparelli’s signature and DNA are not beholden to a silhouette, which I like,” Roseberry said.  “It’s an idea, a concept, and an ethos. [She] was not married to a silhouette, so I feel permission and freedom to engage with a turn-of-the-century S-curve – or something evocative of the 20s, 30s, or 50s.”

The CFDA member ended the show with a joyous Working Girl theme song, Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run,” a nod to his home country. “Who doesn’t love that song?” he said. “After what happened in the States and California, I felt like the biggest gift I could give everyone was to leave on a high note with a song you have great memories with.”