{"id":361792,"date":"2026-03-27T22:56:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/361792\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T22:56:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:56:25","slug":"fashion-art-collide-at-vas-new-house-of-schiaparelli-show-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/361792\/","title":{"rendered":"Fashion, Art Collide at V&A’s New House of Schiaparelli Show in London"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLONDON<\/a> \u2014 Like young lovers, fashion and art are drawn to each another, but the romance fades quickly because they are so different. Art is cerebral, and meant to endure, while fashion is commercial, seasonal and fundamentally fickle.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe rare exception was Elsa Schiaparelli<\/a>, the rule-breaking Roman designer who built a business sparking off Surrealist artists including Salvador Dal\u00ed, Alberto Giacometti and Jean Cocteau, and working closely with other 20th-century creatives, including the jeweler Jean Schlumberger<\/a>, to push the limits of fashion.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Victoria & Albert Museum is swiveling the spotlight onto Schiaparelli<\/a> and that exceptional moment in history when art and fashion collided to create something new.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Maggie<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMaggie Mauer in Schiaparelli<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJamie Stoker\/WWD<\/p>\n

\t\tChanging the Paradigm\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSchiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art,\u201d which opens Saturday, and runs until Nov. 8, is the U.K.\u2019s first exhibition dedicated to the house, its founder and how she was able to change the fashion paradigm in the shell-shocked, straitened years following World War I, and break up the cozy relationship between fashion and beauty.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show also paints a picture of the difficult inter-war period in Europe through the designs of Schiaparelli, a wealthy, art- and science-loving aristocrat, and original work by her artist and photographer friends.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cElsa Schiaparelli was at the center of a constellation of creatives, and a key protagonist in the Surrealist movement,\u201d said Sonnet Stanfill, senior curator of fashion at the V&A, who has been working on the show for the past two-and a-half years.<\/p>\n

\n\tStanfill said that new research by the V&A shows that Schiaparelli \u201cwasn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Skeleton dress embroidered with ribcage bones at the back and front is a prime example of the intimate \u2014 and fruitful \u2014 relationship that Schiaparelli had with her artist friends.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Schiaparelli<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tInside the Schiaparelli exhibit at the V&A Museum.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJamie Stoker for WWD<\/p>\n

\n\tThe black silk dress from 1938 belongs to the V&A and is the only known surviving example of the Skeleton style.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt has \u201cbones\u201d stitched onto the back and front \u201calmost like the wearer\u2019s insides have come outside,\u201d Stanfill said. Next to the dress in the exhibition are sketches by Dal\u00ed of three female skeletons in different fashionable poses, with a note at the bottom saying how much he likes the idea of the \u201cbones\u201d being on the outside.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou 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\u2019s a flow of information going back and forth,\u201d Stanfill said.<\/p>\n

\n\tA similar conversation is happening around the Lobster dress, which Schiaparelli co-created with Dal\u00ed \u2014 her silhouette, his painting. According to Stanfill, the collaboration gave Dal\u00ed the idea for the lobster telephone, which he created a year later. The two are displayed side-by-side in the show.<\/p>\n

\n\tOther Schiaparelli-Dal\u00ed collaborations include a Tears dress from 1938, with images of violently torn strips of fabric, and a hat resembling an upside-down shoe. What crazy kids they were.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are more than 400 objects on display in the show at the V&A\u2019s Sainsbury Gallery. It includes 100 fashion ensembles and 50 artworks \u2014 by Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray and Eileen Agar \u2014 as well as accessories, jewelry, paintings, photographs, furniture, perfumes and archive material. What is most impressive the exhibit is how wearable and modern her designs remain.<\/p>\n

\n\tSchiaparelli wasn\u2019t just working alongside the artists \u2014 she was putting their dream-fueled ideas into action, adding trompe-l\u2019oeil designs to her charming knits and jackets; popping utilitarian zippers onto slinky evening gowns, and transforming the humble button into a conversation piece \u2014 flying acrobats for an embroidered jacket, or gilded Giacometti sculptures for a coat.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe broke other rules, too, working with alternative textiles such as cellophane and woven glass and working out methods to waterproof her tweed suits. She also designed women\u2019s beach wear, sewing bra cups into the inside of bathing suits, and clothes for skiing and active sport. In fact, she began her fashion career by designing sports clothing rather than couture.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Schiaparelli<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tInside the Schiaparelli exhibit at the V&A Museum.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJamie Stoker\/WWD<\/p>\n

\n\tHer prints were innovative, as well as self-promoting. A scarf at the beginning of the show features a collage of newspaper articles with headlines about her, in a masterstroke of self-promotion that came decades before Andy Warhol started talking about the nature of fame.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe created clothes that were slightly disobedient and not necessarily concerned with creating conventional glamour,\u201d Stanfill said.<\/p>\n

\t\tCreating an Image\t<\/p>\n

\n\tCurrent Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry \u2014 whose dramatic designs worn by a host of celebrities including Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa appear in the final room of the show \u2014 said that while Schiaparelli may have been a rule-breaker, she was also an image-maker.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer work \u201cwasn\u2019t about reimagining silhouette. It was about image making. There\u2019s 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tRoseberry pointed to a room in the show that\u2019s filled with embellished or colorful tailored jackets, each in its own case and displayed like a precious jewel. <\/p>\n

\n\tA black one has a round collar, chunky buttons and goldwork embroidery on its big \u201ccash and carry\u201d pockets. There are also two blazing pink embroidered jackets, and a black one with silvery sequins arranged in the shape of muscle groups on the chest. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAll of those jackets were meant to be viewed at a dinner table with the embroidery sitting right above the waistline,\u201d Roseberry said. \u201cThey were like a siren song at a restaurant calling you across the room to go engage with whoever was wearing it. There\u2019s this eye candy quality to her work, which was so different from that of her peers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Schiaparelli<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tInside the Schiaparelli exhibit at the V&A Museum.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJamie Stoker for WWD<\/p>\n

\n\tSchiaparelli and Coco Chanel \u2014 who was also breaking the rules \u2014 were rivals, although they didn\u2019t need to be, according to Stanfill.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you take a prototypical Chanel gown from the 1930s and juxtapose it with a quintessential Schiaparelli, I don\u2019t think you would confuse the two. They had their own aesthetics and clients, and I don\u2019t think they were in competition with each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tStanfill added that both women started small, with Schiaparelli making trompe-l\u2019oeil sweaters and Chanel doing hats. \u201cThey both expanded out and were quite adept at making clothes that were wearable, comfortable and stylish,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth women were also dedicated, and disciplined. <\/p>\n

\n\tActress Marisa Berenson, Schiaparelli\u2019s granddaughter, recalled that she \u201cliked [Yves] Saint Laurent and [Cristobal] Balenciaga. She dressed very classically, in tailoring and black, except for the evenings when she would change every night for dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBerenson, who lived with her grandmother at one point in 1970s Paris, said that even if Schiaparelli dined alone, on her sofa, in front of her television, \u201cshe would change into these beautiful old kimonos that she\u2019d bought in China over the years. She\u2019d come down to dinner with her hair up, and covered in these incredible necklaces, and wearing a kimono. Then she\u2019d sit in front of the television, by herself, and have dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSchiaparelli was disapproving of Berenson\u2019s free and easy 1970s attire. \u201cShe was quite severe and did not approve of my going out dressed the way I did. She thought it was absolutely scandalous,\u201d Berenson added.<\/p>\n

\n\tSchiaparelli\u2019s rigor, creativity and disruptive approach to style live on.<\/p>\n

\n\tDelphine\u00a0Bellini, chief executive officer of Schiaparelli, which is now by Diego Della Valle and his family, said the exhibition \u201cis not about nostalgia, but about continuity. Reviving Schiaparelli has never meant rebuilding the past; it has meant proving that Elsa\u2019s radical vision still belongs to the present. At Schiaparelli, we don\u2019t preserve a legacy, we activate it, as a cultural and artistic force that continues to challenge and inspire our time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRoseberry said he loves the freedom that comes with designing for the house \u2014 and insisted that he\u2019s never short of ideas. \u201cWe\u2019re 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Schiaparelli<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tInside the Schiaparelli exhibit at the V&A Museum.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJamie Stoker\/WWD<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s not the only one keeping the flame alive. This week, Harrods plans to unveil a series of window installations inspired by one of Schiaparelli\u2019s most recognizable emblems: the keyhole.<\/p>\n

\n\tLarge, keyhole-shaped screens will turn the store\u2019s windows into \u201cportals of discovery\u201d with viewers able to look at images of \u201cAnglomaniac,\u201d a newly published book showcasing the house of Schiaparelli\u2019s influence on the work of British artists.<\/p>\n

\n\tPublished by Skira and edited by Thierry\u2011Maxime Loriot, \u201cAnglomaniac\u201d spotlights British creatives whose work resonates with that of Roseberry and the house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON \u2014 Like young lovers, fashion and art are drawn to each another, but the romance fades quickly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[437,434,435,436,438,146,85,46,442,40620,164797],"class_list":{"0":"post-361792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-il","15":"tag-israel","16":"tag-london","17":"tag-schiaparelli","18":"tag-victoria-albert-museum"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}