LONDON — Fashion and art share a complex relationship, often characterized by a fleeting romance due to their inherent differences. While art is typically intellectual and designed to last, fashion is commercial, seasonal, and often capricious.
One notable exception to this trend is the groundbreaking designer Elsa Schiaparelli, a Roman visionary who established a brand that drew inspiration from Surrealist artists such as Salvador Dalí, Alberto Giacometti, and Jean Cocteau. Schiaparelli collaborated closely with various 20th-century creatives, including jeweler Jean Schlumberger, to redefine the boundaries of fashion.
Highlighting a Unique Era
The Victoria & Albert Museum is shining a light on Schiaparelli and the remarkable period when art and fashion converged to create something innovative. The exhibition titled “Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art,” which opens Saturday and runs until November 8, marks the first dedicated showcase in the U.K. focusing on the designer, her legacy, and her transformative impact on the fashion landscape in the tumultuous years following World War I.
This exhibition also contextualizes the challenging inter-war years in Europe through Schiaparelli’s designs, reflecting her background as a wealthy aristocrat with a passion for art and science, alongside original works from her artist and photographer contemporaries.
“Elsa Schiaparelli was at the center of a constellation of creatives, and a key protagonist in the Surrealist movement,” said Sonnet Stanfill, senior curator of fashion at the V&A, who has dedicated the past two-and-a-half years to curating the exhibition.
Stanfill noted that new research from the V&A reveals that Schiaparelli “wasn’t simply appropriating Surrealist images and sticking them on her clothes. She was embedded with the artists, and they referenced her couture salon in Paris as the beating heart of their movement. On any given day, her office saw a steady stream of the greatest creatives of 1930s Paris.”
Iconic Designs and Collaborations
The exhibition features the Skeleton dress, a striking black silk creation from 1938 that is the only known surviving example of its kind. This dress is adorned with embroidered ribcage bones on both the front and back, creating the illusion that the wearer’s insides are on display. Stanfill remarked, “You get the sense from looking at the dress, the sketches and the note that we have entered into the middle of a conversation between the designer and the artist, and there’s a flow of information going back and forth.”
Next to the Skeleton dress, visitors will find sketches by Dalí depicting three female skeletons in fashionable poses, accompanied by a note expressing his enthusiasm for the concept of “bones” being on the outside.
A similar collaborative spirit is evident in the Lobster dress, which Schiaparelli co-created with Dalí—her silhouette paired with his artwork. According to Stanfill, this partnership inspired Dalí to create his famous lobster telephone a year later. Both pieces are displayed together in the exhibition.
Other notable collaborations between Schiaparelli and Dalí include the Tears dress from 1938, featuring images of violently torn fabric, and a hat designed to resemble an upside-down shoe.
A Comprehensive Showcase
The exhibition at the V&A’s Sainsbury Gallery features over 400 objects, including 100 fashion ensembles and 50 artworks by renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, and Eileen Agar. The collection also encompasses accessories, jewelry, paintings, photographs, furniture, perfumes, and archival materials. A remarkable aspect of the exhibit is the enduring modernity and wearability of Schiaparelli’s designs.
Schiaparelli’s innovative approach extended beyond mere collaboration with artists; she actively translated their imaginative ideas into tangible fashion. Her designs incorporated trompe-l’œil techniques into her charming knits and jackets, utilized practical zippers on elegant evening gowns, and transformed ordinary buttons into artistic statements—such as flying acrobats on an embroidered jacket or gilded Giacometti sculptures on a coat.
She also broke conventions by experimenting with unconventional materials like cellophane and woven glass, developing waterproof methods for her tweed suits. Additionally, she designed women’s beachwear, incorporating bra cups into bathing suits, and created clothing for skiing and other active pursuits. Notably, her fashion career began with sportswear rather than haute couture.
Innovative Self-Promotion
Her prints were not only innovative but also served as a form of self-promotion. A scarf featured at the start of the exhibition showcases a collage of newspaper articles with headlines about her, a clever marketing strategy that predated Andy Warhol’s exploration of fame.
“She created clothes that were slightly disobedient and not necessarily concerned with creating conventional glamour,” Stanfill stated.
Legacy and Modern Influence
Current creative director Daniel Roseberry, whose dramatic designs have been worn by celebrities like Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa, emphasized that while Schiaparelli was a pioneer, she was also a master of image-making. “Her work wasn’t about reimagining silhouette. It was about image making. There’s something very pre-social media, very pre-digital age about her work. It was very attention grabbing at a time when people were dressmaking and creating quiet, soft clothing,” he explained.
Roseberry highlighted a section of the exhibition filled with embellished or colorful tailored jackets, each displayed in its own case like precious artifacts. One black jacket features a round collar, chunky buttons, and goldwork embroidery on its large pockets, while two vibrant pink embroidered jackets and a black one adorned with sequins shaped like muscle groups on the chest are also showcased.
“All of those jackets were meant to be viewed at a dinner table with the embroidery sitting right above the waistline,” Roseberry noted. “They were like a siren song at a restaurant calling you across the room to go engage with whoever was wearing it. There’s this eye candy quality to her work, which was so different from that of her peers.”
Rivalry and Individuality
Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel, both of whom were known for breaking fashion norms, were often viewed as rivals, although Stanfill believes this perception is misguided. “If you take a prototypical Chanel gown from the 1930s and juxtapose it with a quintessential Schiaparelli, I don’t think you would confuse the two. They had their own aesthetics and clients, and I don’t think they were in competition with each other,” she explained.
Stanfill further noted that both designers began their careers modestly, with Schiaparelli initially creating trompe-l’œil sweaters and Chanel starting with hats. “They both expanded out and were quite adept at making clothes that were wearable, comfortable, and stylish,” she added.
Both women exhibited dedication and discipline in their craft. Actress Marisa Berenson, Schiaparelli’s granddaughter, recalled her grandmother’s preference for classic tailoring and black attire, except for evenings when she would change into beautiful kimonos purchased in China.
Berenson shared that even when dining alone in front of the television, Schiaparelli would dress elegantly, adorned with stunning necklaces and a kimono. However, she disapproved of Berenson’s more relaxed 1970s fashion choices, finding them scandalous.
Continuing the Vision
Schiaparelli’s innovative spirit and disruptive approach to style continue to resonate today. Delphine Bellini, CEO of Schiaparelli, which is now under the ownership of Diego Della Valle and his family, stated that the exhibition “is not about nostalgia, but about continuity. Reviving Schiaparelli has never meant rebuilding the past; it has meant proving that Elsa’s radical vision still belongs to the present. At Schiaparelli, we don’t preserve a legacy, we activate it, as a cultural and artistic force that continues to challenge and inspire our time.”
Roseberry expressed his enthusiasm for the creative freedom he enjoys while designing for the house, asserting that he is never short of ideas. “We’re not bound to a silhouette, a color story, or a material like other brands are, but you know something is a Schiaparelli from the moment it walks over,” he remarked.
Additionally, Harrods is set to unveil a series of window displays inspired by one of Schiaparelli’s most iconic motifs: the keyhole. Large, keyhole-shaped screens will transform the store’s windows into “portals of discovery,” allowing viewers to explore images from “Anglomaniac,” a newly published book that highlights Schiaparelli’s influence on British artists.
Published by Skira and edited by Thierry-Maxime Loriot, “Anglomaniac” showcases British creatives whose work resonates with that of Roseberry and the house.
Bildquelle: ai-generated-gemini
