You Want to Be Plastic So Bad

In Daniel Roseberry’s notes for his latest couture collection titled “The Call of the Void,” the designer admitted that the classic Creative Director Journey^TM of taking a trip and looking at beautiful architecture had lost its usual inspiring energy. “Formulas are antithetical to the magic of creation, which can be found only in total surrender to the unknown,” he wrote. Roseberry then invited attendees and viewers alike to dive into the unknown with him, a world rife with surrealist touches and mind-boggling motifs that only the house of Schiaparelli could conjure.

“Take my hand: and jump off with me into the bliss - of the abyss.” No surprise then that the aquatic-inspired looks full of tentacles and jellyfish shapes would show next to another object proliferating the ocean: plastic.

The collection was an ode to rubber. Shiny, molded shirts sat on the models’ bodies. Ruching was done in a slippery, tangible silicone. One particular cap-sleeve blouse didn’t fully close but seemed to fly off the torso as if perpetually just put on. Another head-to-toe look featured both a moulded dress and jacket, the bow and embellishment details highlighting both the stiffness and glossy nature of the material. Even in the highest echelon of haute couture, this much irreverent elastic could only make me think of Polly Pocket.

The ‘80s doll originated as a miniature world within herself. Enclosed inside tiny cases, Polly would emerge once the small dollhouse was opened and clicked into the set. My friends and I are more familiar with her redesign: Still quite small, just a few inches, but more lifelike and not so small that a child would likely choke on it. That is except for the clothes: Her signature rubber pants and tops are technically called “Polly Stretch,” a technology that creates a “rubbery plastic” that allows for wear and tear.

Conveniently enough, a friend had a “Polly Pocket” themed birthday party in June. She was decked out in a hot pink vinyl dress, and, being all of 5-feet nothing herself, resembled the pint-sized doll, even complete with a big blonde bun. In candy bowls, she left out tens of Polly Pocket dolls and hundreds of Polly Stretch clothes. Our assignment: Dress like a Polly Pocket, then make a doll resembling ourselves as close as possible. Rifling through mint-green shirts and purple flared bottoms the size of ketchup packets brought up more memories of destroying the dolls than playing with them. It’s true, they invite a certain childlike fervor. They’re chewable, tangible, and a little dangerous for kids to have. The perfect combination for an enduring toy.

By the time Roseberry brought this chewability to Schiaparelli couture, I’d already been Pocket-pilled by the aforementioned birthday and the rise of this type of clothing throughout the summer. Marc Jacobs sent models down the runway in candy wrapper-looking tank tops and skirts for his Spring 2027 Collection, a callback to Junya Watanabe’s SS96 cadre of PVC pants and matching skirt sets. YSL chose to go for a freakier Boom Boom aesthetic with elongated PVC loafers at the Menswear Summer 2027 show. Designer as a whole had already been in Roseberry’s abyss of creation, sifting through the ocean of beautiful garbage.

Yet plastic is a performative turn from the luxury set: Their current adoption only highlights the ways that haute couture was catching up to trends of the TikTok shop. The Jelly Firkin—availabe in everything from pistachio to polka dot—democratized the world’s most exclusive bag in its least exclusive material. Jelly shoes starting with the Row’s candy-colored foot cages took over a couple years ago and tumbled top down into Gap knockoffs and SHEIN sandals with the same rubbery texture.

This isn’t encompassing the many ways “jelly” or rubbery textures have taken over other aspects of the culture. Makeup is entirely jelly-fied with a focus on bounce and doll-like, poreless skin. Aesthetics for a certain group—see the rise of Mar-a-Lago face—have embraced the silicone fill. There is a need to look more and more like the plastics that now course through our bloodstream.

From my vantage point, the designer crowd focusing on silicone feels like another fashion class stolen valor, like the $500 beat up golden goose sneakers or tattered, patched ENFANTS RICHES DÉPRIMÉS jeans retailing for $1,650. It’s buying the experience rather than being part of it. And while “jelly” isn’t new, this cycle feels more sinister as fewer people can afford to feed and clothe themselves. Their plastic cups and tupperware and packaged foods make them sick as food becomes a luxury good that the rich don’t eat and adorn themselves in the very plastic that’s hurting everyone else.

I don’t harbor as much ill will towards Roseberry in this case because he is a genius and an explorer of many materials, and when you’re that good, you can get away with most. Yet few are highlighting how his call to join the abyss has a darker edge than some of the more pastel palette items let on. Polly Pocket clothes are fun because they’re chewable. But there’s always the chance you’ll choke.