Between two worlds: Elsa Schiaparelli’s surrealism and fashion

The portrait of an artistic life and its transgressive influence on fashion

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Elsa Schiaparelli was a brilliant and indomitable mind of the 20th century. The Italian fashion designer, although primarily known for her work in the fashion industry, was one of the most prominent voices of the surrealist movement in the 1930s. She moved to the fashion epicenter Paris, collaborated with artists like Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau, and creatively directed her maison towards timelessness.

But to understand her importance, one must go back to the beginning. Schiap – as she was nicknamed – was always surrounded by luxury and mysticism. She was born in 1890, during the Belle Époque, at the Palazzo Corsini in Rome. Her family was wealthy, with connections in politics, science, and aristocracy, enabling Schiaparelli to develop her artistic sense and direct her creativity towards fantasy.

In her autobiography ('Shocking Life', 1954), she recounts that as a child, she would plant seeds on her face hoping that a garden would grow there. Inventive and with a certain revolutionary spirit, Schiaparelli yearned for new perspectives, questioning every convention, much to the displeasure of her conservative family.

After graduating from the Philosophy course at the University of Rome, her life would take a new turn. She fled to London, married and divorced, had a daughter, and moved to Paris. This last statement is of utmost importance, as the city was where Schiaparelli encountered fashion.Due to Paul Poiret, an important modern fashion designer, Schiaparelli began sketching her first designs and fell in love with the art of creating clothes. She opened her maison in 1927, and in the following years, she reaped the rewards of seeds planted since childhood. Business thrived, but humanity suffered from the looming great evil, World War II. By 1940, the war had already been declared, and fear was constant.

In response, Schiaparelli joined forces with Salvador Dalí and created designs that drew attention to the imminent danger. The 'Tear Dress' was influenced by Dalí's work ('Three Young Surrealist Women Holding in Their Arms the Skins of an Orchestra', 1936), and many believe it was a warning response to both the Spanish Civil War and the spread of Fascism at the time. Another important creation was the 'Skeleton Dress' (1938), also in collaboration with Dalí, the piece alludes to the extreme thinness caused by hunger.

These acts, considered rebellious, denouncing war and criticizing conservatism, led to Schiaparelli being accused of being a spy, despite already being a naturalized French citizen. She hastily moved to the United States but, determined to help, she stopped creating clothes and devoted her time and money to lectures and donations that strengthened the bonds between the United States and France. She organized donations of money and materials to aid French children and was part of the American Red Cross as a nurse.

After France was liberated, Schiaparelli returned to Paris to find a completely different fashion scene – practical clothes dominated as women had entered the workforce during the war, and their attire adapted to the faster-paced, practical environment. The maison tried to bring back regency styles with long skirts and dropped sleeves but without success. In 1954, the brand's activities came to an end.

The luxurious and avant-garde fashion of a woman ahead of her time had fallen into obscurity, remaining in the shadows for over 60 years. However, in 2012, Maison Schiaparelli was reopened with the intention of stimulating and transgressing fashion rules once again. The pieces are signed by Daniel Roseberry, who says Elsa Schiaparelli reflected 'the chaos and hope of the turbulent era in which she lived'.

The child who daydreamed, with parallel universes and magical creations, found solace in being herself a plural cosmos. Schiaparelli shocked as an Italian and later Frenchwoman, philosopher, fashion designer, and also nurse. All with the unvarying consequence of not forgetting art as salvation, and the realization that life is not about finding oneself but about creating oneself.