Shocking! The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli

2003

Science TT505 S3 BM82. Kind permission from Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Born into an aristocratic Italian family, Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973), moved to Paris in 1922. A contemporary and competitor of Coco Chanel, Schiaperelli collaborated with Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau during her thirty year career. Her first collection was of knitwear, and appeared in January 1927, featuring garments with a ‘trompe l’oeil’ bow design around the collar. Schiaparelli has become known for designing ‘shorts’ for women; her collaboration with Dali in the ‘Lobster Dress’, once worn by Wallis Simpson; and creating the colour ‘shocking pink’. Although the designer closed the doors of her fashion house in 1954, Schiaparelli is recognised in fashion history as one of the first designers to blend fashion and art