Six Ways Schiaparelli's Brand Relaunch Is Kicking it Old School

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Elsa Schiaparelli's designs might have been forward thinking enough to look and feel current nearly sixty years later, but the business side of things will stay right where she left it in 1954. The brand's relaunch, led by the its new owner, luxury goods tycoon Diego Della Valle, will be be based on the "historic structure of a couture house," according to the Financial Times. What that means exactly has a lot more to do with what the house isn't going to do, rather than what they will do. Check out the top six things that you shouldn't expect from the new Schiap after the jump.

1. Is the brand getting on board the ready-to-wear train? Nope. Della Valle says that Schiaparelli will exceed Tom Ford and Chanel's price points and calls the clothes “prêt-a-couture,” which falls on the cost scale between "you can't touch this," and "no, seriously, you definitely can't touch this."

2. Pre-fall and pre-spring much? Not at all, actually. Schiaparelli will show twice a year: spring and fall, rather than the four to eight times a year that's become the norm for top brands.

3. Advertising? Nope. No campaigns, no celebrities, nothing.

4. Wholesale? None.

5. E-commerce? Not a chance.

6. But how do you buy it? Go to Place Vendôme, suckers. (Also, refer back to number one.)

Whether the old model will work or not depends a lot on the designer at the helm (names like Olivier Theyskens, Roland Mouret, and even John Galliano are being batted around, while Anna Wintour is pulling for Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte.) But Robert Burke, founder of the luxury brand consultancy that counts Marc Jacobs, Swarovski, and Saks among its clients, probably says it best: "It's not the normal way to do things [...] But then, Schiaparelli was never terribly normal in the first place."

· New Look for a Rediscovered Gem [Financial Times]
· The Schiaparelli Brand Will Relaunch In Conjunction With the Met Exhibition [Racked]
· All Met Ball Coverage [Racked]