Lacroix to Design Special Collection for Schiaparelli While the search for a creative director at Schiaparelli isn't exactly over, the Paris house had something fabulous to announce today: Christian Lacroix will design a special collection for the label, to be shown during the July haute couture shows. It will consist of 15 looks in the Schiaparelli style, presented at 21 Place Vendôme, the restored headquarters of the company, now owned by Diego Della Valle. Well, who better than Mr. Lacroix to interpret and play with the Schiap colors and saucy wit? The designers seem kindred spirits in the long Parisian story. Two current exhibitions, "Paris Haute Couture" at City Hall in Paris, and "Impressionism, Fashion, & Modernity," at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, remind us of the rule of Paris style. It has been four years since Mr. Lacroix, 61, showed his last couture collection, which he did on a virtual dime. It happened to be one of his best. As for Elsa Schiaparelli, he said in a statement, "Art, theatre and cinema ... my wish is to reposition Elsa at the center of her maison and on the stage from which she once seduced the world." The company expects to hire a full-time creative director, possibly in the next few weeks. It said there will be more special collaborations with designers or artists on an annual basis.