‘In difficult times, fashion is always outrageous’
– Elsa Schiaparelli
Words Edel Cassidy
Resurrecting the transformative spirit Elsa Schiaparelli brought to couture, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is hosting the UK’s first major exhibition dedicated to her revolutionary work. More than a fashion retrospective, the exhibition explores a radical creative mind that operated at the intersection of art, performance and commerce during the tumultuous interwar years.
Bringing together more than 200 objects, the display traces the evolution of the house from Schiaparelli’s paradigm-shifting designs to its contemporary revival under creative director Daniel Roseberry. For style-focused travellers and lovers of art history alike, it is an unmissable event – a rare opportunity to step inside the imagination of a woman for whom fashion was always a form of artistic rebellion.
Photo: Fredrich Baker, Condé Nast via Getty Images.
The surrealist catalyst
The heart of the exhibition will illuminate Schiaparelli’s legendary collaborations, which blurred the line between garment and art object. The V&A’s own collection holds some of her most radical designs, conceived with artist Salvador Dalí. These include the iconic ‘Tears’ dress, a silk crepe gown printed with a trompe l’oeil pattern of rips and tears, and the ‘Skeleton’ dress, a stark black crepe evening dress with padded ribs and spine. Alongside these is her whimsical shoe hat, which turns an everyday object into a surrealist declaration.
Schiaparelli’s artistic circle was stellar. The exhibition will feature related artworks by contemporaries like Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Man Ray, contextualising her work within the broader avant-garde movement that swept through Paris, London and New York.
This artistic camaraderie stood in stark contrast to her famous rivalry with Coco Chanel. Where Chanel championed understated elegance and liberation through simplicity, Schiaparelli embraced artistic spectacle and intellectual provocation. Their competition was the defining clash of philosophies in interwar fashion. Famously, Chanel referred to her rival as ‘that Italian artist who makes clothes’, a dismissive jab that Schiaparelli wore as a badge of honour, fully embracing her identity as an artist first.
Photo © Giovanni Giannoni, courtesy of Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris.
A female entrepreneur in a changing world
The exhibition positions Schiaparelli not just as a designer, but as a pioneering female entrepreneur. It promises new research into her business acumen, highlighting the history of her London branch, a satellite operation with dynamic clients that reflected her international appeal and savvy.
Her work for film and theatre will also be referenced, showcasing how her ‘outrageous’ designs, as she called them, permeated popular culture. In an era of great difficulty between the wars, Schiaparelli offered a bold, imaginative escape.
© 2025 Man Ray 2015 Trust. DACS, London. Photo collection SFMOMA.
A legacy reborn
The narrative extends beyond Elsa Schiaparelli’s retirement in 1954 to the house’s modern chapter. Since 2019, creative director Daniel Roseberry has helmed the iconic atelier at 21 Place Vendôme in Paris, steering its surrealist spirit into the 21st century.
His bold, sculptural designs, seen on red carpets and in recent haute couture presentations, act as a direct conversation with the founder’s vision. The exhibition will bridge this historical gap, showing how a legacy of innovation is continually reinvented.
‘As the home to the foremost collection of Schiaparelli in Britain, the V&A is the perfect place to explore this story,’ said Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A. ‘Her collaborations with artists and the world of performance make the maison an ideal subject for a spectacular exhibition.’
Delphine Bellini, CEO of Schiaparelli, notes the museum’s unique ability to ‘bridge tradition and innovation’, providing the ideal setting to showcase a legacy that remains powerfully relevant.
Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art runs at the V&A London until 8 November 2026.
15 March 1937. Photo: Horst P. Horst, Condé Nast via Getty Images.
- ‘Schiaparelli’s Surrealist Legacy: When fashion becomes art’ is published in Anthology Volume 25. Read more features from this volume or buy it now.
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