Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer from an aristocratic background. She created the house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she managed from the 1930s to the 1950s. Starting with knitwear, Schiaparelli's designs celebrated Surrealism and eccentric fashions. Her collections were famous for unconventional and artistic themes like the human body, insects, or trompe-l'œil, and for the use of bright colors like her "shocking pink".
Schiaparelli in 1937, wearing her own designs
Elsa Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaparelli
Maison Schiaparelli is a haute couture house created by avant-garde Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in 1927, and moving towards luxury ready-to-wear after being bought in 2007 by Diego Della Valle. The house is famous for its eccentric fashions, the use of Surrealism in its collections, its sense of humour, the "shocking Pink" color, gender crossing, and its use of human anatomy depictions, among other unconventional themes.
The entrance of the company at 21, place Vendôme in 2022.
Two Schiaparelli evening gowns. The left gown, from 1951, features Schiaparelli's signature colour, shocking pink. The right gown, featuring a whimsical butterfly print, is from 1937.
Lady Gaga wearing a Schiaparelli ball gown decorated with a large dove brooch to the 2021 inauguration of Joe Biden, where she sang the national anthem.
A tag from a vintage Schiaparelli design, using Elsa Schiaparelli's signature "shocking pink"
