“Neiman’s gave me the ultimate invitation to dream and to dare,” said Daniel Roseberry last night. The creative director of Schiaparelli was recalling how Neiman Marcus played a key part in his journey from Plano, Texas to the Ritz in Paris, where he was receiving the retailer’s Award for Creative Impact in the Field of Fashion.
Last night was the second edition of the Neiman Marcus Awards since the venerable Dallas-founded business rebooted it last year. Roseberry was one of three winners who took to the podium at a fuss-free yet fabulous ceremony and dinner, where other guests included Delphine Arnault, Maggie Maurer, Olivia Palermo, and Sidney Toledano. Many others, including Rick Owens and Michèle Lamy, swung by for the stop-and-chat before the ceremony began.
Speaking shortly before his touching speech (someone at my table cried) Roseberry said: “This evening kind of feels like a full circle moment for me. When I was growing up Neiman’s was this symbol of a world that I didn’t know if I could be a part of, let alone become a creator in.”
For the two other winners last night, the awards represent a move in the other direction, from Paris to the US. The grandest of the evening’s three wordily-named prizes—The Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion—went to Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri. She paid fulsome and graceful tribute to Dior’s many craftspeople as she picked up her statuette.
Speaking pre-speech, she recalled how the house’s founder Christian Dior won the prize back in 1947, the year of his very first collection, and how instrumental receiving it was to his success. She said: “We have to think that at that moment it was so difficult to travel to the USA—what they did was unbelievable. I am very impressed by the history of Dior, how much he realized, how much he went around the world, and how thanks to this the brand went global. He was a great couturier but we also have to recognize what a great ambassador he was for Parisian couture in the world.”
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