Elsa Schiaparelli

Life & Legacy

Elsa Luisa Giovanna Maria Schiaparelli ( SKAP-ə-REL-ee, SHAP-, US also skee-AHP-, Italian: [ˈɛlsa skjapaˈrɛlli]; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian fashion designer from an aristocratic background. She created Maison Schiaparelli (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 collaborated with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. Along with Coco Chanel, her greatest rival, she is regarded as one of the most prominent European figures in fashion between the two World Wars. Her clients included the heiress Daisy Fellowes and actress Mae West.